Unseen Eyes
by Kristin4
Summary: There is a new CSI in the lab and she has a problem with Nick. But on top of all of that there is a new threat on the streets and Nick has to try and stop him. Will he be able to handle the threat and his personal problems or will he cave under all the pr
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The case was complete and another suspect behind bars. Smiling Krisalyn walked into the ballistics lab to work on a new case that had found its way into her load. Sighing she looked out at the field investigators who were clowning around. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the guns that were sitting there. Frowning she looked them over real good and realized they were from a different case; someone had neglected to properly put away their evidence. Turning around she headed out the door with an angry stride only to run into Nick Stokes.

"Watch where you're going next time." She muttered.

"Hey you ran into me." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him.

"Gee what do you want an apology?" Krisalyn asked sarcastically.

"What is your problem? Ever since you started here you have been acting really, well you know towards me." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him.

"I got a lot on my mind." Krisalyn answered with a shrug.

"You know what, I think you need to chill out and relax." Nick said trying to think of a way to say what he wanted to say without actually saying it.

"Whatever." Krisalyn said as she tried to get by him.

* * *

Nick watched her walk by and rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure what her problem was but he didn't have time for it. Sighing he headed down the hallway to Grissom's office so that he could discuss his new case. Maybe while he was there he could find out what was eating at the ballistics technician.

"Hey Grissom." Nick said as he entered his office. "What's up?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Did ballistics run your material?" Grissom asked him with an arched brow.

"Not that I know of." Nick said as he thought about the new technician. "Seriously doubt the new girl is going to put my case in front of everyone else."

"Why is that?" Grissom asked him.

"Well we haven't exactly gotten off on the right foot at the moment." Nick said shrugging his shoulders.

"Only because you are very egotistical." Came the sweet voice behind him. "Grissom I have a question about something. In the old lab I came from we weren't allowed to leave evidence unattended, especially weapons. Is that different here?" Krisalyn asked walking fully into the office.

"No." Grissom said shaking his head.

"Okay. Then someone left a gun in the ballistics lab, fully loaded and with no one in sight." Krisalyn said with her arms crossed in front of her.

"All right, I'll deal with that later. For now I want you to work on Nick's case with him. He'll follow you back to the lab and no fighting." Grissom said with an arched brow.

* * *

Krisalyn and Nick walked back towards the ballistics lab in complete silence. It was clear that neither wanted to talk to the other for fear that they would only start a fight.

"You know I can handle your case by myself and just give you the results." Krisalyn said with a look towards Nick.

"Nope. Look I have worked with Grissom a lot longer than you have, I know how he would react if I just left it all to you." Nick said shaking his head no.

"Fine, I was giving you an easy out rather than forcing you to stay and work with me when you don't want to." Krisalyn said with a shrug.

"It's you who doesn't want to work with me." Nick said stopping in the middle of the hallway.

"Look in my experience guys hate working with women who are smart." Krisalyn said thinking about her last job.

"Well here that's different. Sarah and Katherine wouldn't stand for anyone thinking or acting that way." Nick said shaking his head.

"Yeah well this would be the only place." Krisalyn said with a shrug.

* * *

Nick could tell already that this woman was going to be major trouble. He could also tell from the looks he was receiving from his colleagues that they had a feeling he liked trouble.

* * *

Sara stood with Grissom in his office, both of them laughing.

"So was Nick upset?" Sara asked him with a sparkle in her eyes.

"No." Grissom said shaking his head. He smiled at Sara and they confirmed their plans for later that night before she walked out of his office.

* * *

Kathryn andWarrick stood off to the side and watched Nick work with the new girl in the ballistics lab. Sara came up behind them and winked at them as they stood there and watched as Nick got his hand slapped again for interfering in whatever she was doing.

* * *

"All right whose the expert here?" Krisalyn asked getting frustrated with him.

"Why won't you let me in on this?" Nick asked crossing his arms in front of him.

"Just shut up and stay out of the way." Krisalyn grumbled as she went back to work.

* * *

He laughed as he studied his new targets. This was a new city and that meant starting a new game with new cops. He decided which cops were going to be his pawns and then went to work on his new game plan. Oh this day was only going to get better. He already knew where he was going to dump all his bodies and what the clues would be but he was still trying to decide who the victims would be. Would they be random this time? Or would he make them close family friends or relatives of his pawns? He laughed as he continued to draw out his game plans and come up with everything that was necessary to ensure that his targets regretted the day they got any type of badge.

* * *

Nick looked up as someone walked into the lab and nodded at him. He knew that meant there had been a killing and he was the CSI assigned to the case. As he turned to head towards the door he saw Grissom stop there and look at Krisalyn.

"Time to send you out in the field. I know you were a field CSI back at your old town and I am short handed right now. You're partnered with Nick for this case. No fighting and I want absolute teamwork." Grissom ordered before turning away and heading back towards his office to study a bug he was using in an experiment.

"Figures." Krisalyn muttered as she bagged and tagged the evidence and then headed towards the locked evidence area. "Let me put this stuff away and meet you out front." She said without looking at Nick.

"Fine." Nick said before turning helpless eyes towards his friends. "Please tell me one of you can get me out of this. She's considered a rookie around here."

"Nope. Enjoy Nick." Kathryn said laughing as they all turned and walked away.

"This is going to be a long night." Nick muttered as he walked to get his kit and then head out to the car.

* * *

Krisalyn checked in the evidence and then went and grabbed her kit. "This is going to be a long night." She muttered to herself as she head out front.

* * *

"This is going to be a long night for certain people." The man laughed as he finished what he had started for the night. Let the game begin. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Krisalyn stood off to the side with Nick as they waited to enter the crime scene. Krisalyn wouldn't admit it but from what she could see it was a particularly brutal crime, one she was going to end up with nightmares about. She bit her bottom lip nervously and then caught herself, showing any sign of weakness would only make her look bad in front of everyone.

* * *

Nick glanced over and saw Krisalyn standing off to the side. She seemed as though she was struggling with something inside of her mind. He frowned a little when he saw her take a deep breath and then shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the crime scene at hand.

"You know if you would rather wait outside the area I can handle this myself." Nick said softly.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? To be able to run back to the lab and tell them that Krisalyn is a major wimp and can't handle a crime scene." Krisalyn said with venom in her voice.

"What is your problem? I was only trying to be nice." Nick said spinning towards her quickly.

They worked their crime scene efficiently for the next couple of hours. Nick looked down and realized there was something he wanted to rush back to the lab as quickly as he possibly could. He turned towards Krisalyn and admitted silently to himself that she was competent to be at the scene alone for a while.

"I am going to take some stuff back to the lab. Think you can handle things here alone for a while?" Nick asked as he looked over at Krisalyn fully.

"You can't leave me here alone." She said panicking. Her mind flashed back to her old job and she dropped everything she was holding. She grabbed her chest and sank to her knees, realizing she was having a full blown panic attack.

Nick looked at her completely stunned. He wasn't sure what was going on but he set aside everything he was holding and rushed over to where she was kneeling. He quickly put a comforting hand on her back.

"Breathe in slowly, come on deep breath." Nick said rubbing her back in slow circles to try and soothe her.

Krisalyn calmed down and then blushed with embarrassment; there was nothing more humiliating than having a full blown panic attack at a scene. She kept her eyes trained on the ground and tried her hardest to think of something to say to explain what had happened without having to explain the truth.

"What's going on with you?" Nick asked before her brain had come up with something.

"Nothing." Krisalyn said pulling away from him.

"You know what, you are a human being. It's not big deal what just happened but I would like an explanation on why you just freaked like you did." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him.

"Look I really don't want to talk about it." Krisalyn said as she picked up everything that she dropped. "Go ahead and head back to the lab, I'll be fine here by myself."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked worried about her.

"Yeah." She said turning back to the area she was processing.

* * *

He laughed as he realized that this whole thing was going to be even better than he originally planned. So the female CSI at this scene was terrified to be alone. Well maybe he could make her feel like she was all alone in the world, maybe he could prey on her fears. This was going to be a big job but he had a feeling he was up for it.

* * *

Krisalyn looked around the scene and took a deep breath. She really hated working crime scene's alone. She put her right hand on her chest and tried to will her heart to slow down some. It was beating a mile a minute. She looked around the scene and got back to work slowly, glancing over her shoulder every few minutes, praying Nick would hurry back. Even though she wasn't that fond of the guy she would rather have him here than be by herself.

* * *

Nick slowly drove back to the crime scene with a frown on his face. He wasn't sure what that whole scene earlier was about but he had a feeling there was something about Krisalyn that he didn't know, something that not even Grissom must know. He was still a few minutes away and he shook his mind clear, ready to face her and whatever sarcastic remark she was going to throw at him this time.

* * *

Krisalyn jumped as she heard a door open and close. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, thinking that Nick had arrived back and was just trying to scare her.

"In here!" She shouted as she turned back to her work.

* * *

He looked at the woman who was bent over some blood that he had left behind and laughed inside his head. She had just led him straight to her and had no clue he was standing there, ready to kill her if he had to. This was to easy, he enjoyed a challenge and it seemed like she wasn't going to be one today. He decided to go a different route and picked up the lamp that was sitting on the table. He cautiously lifted it over his head and aimed it before he threw it, smacking it straight into the back of the CSI's head. She fell to the ground and he headed out the back door, satisfied that the crime scene had just been contaminated.

* * *

Nick arrived at the scene and rolled his eyes when he realized she wasn't outside waiting for him.

"You would think she would have been finished with the inside by now." He muttered as he walked inside carefully. He followed a blood trail into the living room and sucked in a breath as he saw her lying unconscious on the ground.

* * *

Krisalyn woke up a few hours later and looked over to see Grissom standing there looking her over carefully. Standing next to him was Sara and she appeared to be very upset.

"What happened?" She managed to get out.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Nick said speaking up from his position.

"All I remember was hearing a door open and thinking you had come back and were trying to scare me or something. I called out to who I thought was you and then went back to work. The next thing I knew something smacked me in the head and I woke up here." Krisalyn said thinking really hard.

* * *

Grissom stood outside the room and looked in at his injured CSI. He already knew what was going on, the pattern matched and as he looked at Krisalyn and Nick he realized immediately that they were the new targets of something sinister. He sucked in a breath and looked at Kathryn and nodded his head slowly.

"The killer chose them." Grissom said simply.

"They are in for a bumpy ride. Should we tell them?" Kathryn asked not needing any clarification.

"No. Unfortunately they will only make major mistakes if they know he is doing this to get to them. Let them follow the evidence to him, let them make him mess up." Grissom said after a moment of thought. And that was the end of that conversation. Tomorrow would be a new day and Nick and Krisalyn would have to face a serial cop killer on their own.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Krisalyn stared at the crime scene photo's and reports from other states and cities. She sucked in a deep breath as she read through the pattern and realized what that meant. She glanced up and saw Nick leaning back in his chair, he had already read through everything. She glanced back down at the grisly scene of the murdered investigators from Idaho and closed her eyes as she realized that could easily become her.

* * *

Nick stared at Krisalyn whose bandaged head reminded him of what had happened at the prior crime scene. He watched as she set aside the items he had already reviewed and could already tell that she was struggling against the feelings that were building up inside of her. He turned towards the door when he heard someone open it and saw Grissom standing there with Sara. He could already tell he wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"You might as well come out with it." Nick said with a sigh. His mind was flashing back to the time he had been abducted from a crime scene and almost died in that coffin.

"There is no way to tell who is behind any of this. He changes tactics in each city so no profile actually fits. The only thing that stays the same are the victims, a female and male crime scene investigator in each city." Sara said biting her lower lip as she realized it could easily have been her in Krisalyn's place. "We aren't sure how they are chosen and we aren't sure how to tell which scenes are the ones he sets up for the investigators."

"So just keep us out of the field." Krisalyn suggested not wanting to end up like the dead female investigators before her.

"If we weren't already short handed I could do that. But we still have real crime scenes that I need you and Nick to work. I can't have two field investigators sitting behind desks." Grissom said shaking his head.

"Not even if their safety is at risk?" Krisalyn asked with wide eyes.

"You won't ever be allowed to be alone at a crime scene and we are going to switch both of you with day crew workers so you won't be allowed at crime scenes at night. Any scene that is far out there will be given to another investigator." Grissom told her reassuringly.

* * *

Krisalyn sat in her apartment some time later, staring at a set of crime scene photo's.  
These were photos from a different crime scene that had nothing to do with her current situation. She gulped as she stared at the blood that was all over the floor and walls, at the gun that was lying inches away from the blood pool. She knew who was supposed to be lying there, she was. She put her hand on her chest and felt the scar from the bullet she had taken to the chest after she went back to a closed case scene, unsatisfied with her partners assessment and arrest. She had been right and the real suspect had shot her when she pulled her gun out of the holster when she heard some glass breaking behind her. She learned her lesson then and had never worked a crime scene solo, until Nick had left her at the scene.

She jumped when her phone started ringing and closed her eyes against the terror that had appeared out of nowhere. She had escaped her old job because of the angry stares from colleagues, everyone was afraid she was going to work their cases behind their backs and undermine them. She reached out and lifted the cordless extension off of it's base.

"Hello?" She answered the phone hesitantly.

"Hello is this Krisalyn?" Came an unsure voice over the line.

"Depends on who this is." Krisalyn said not recognizing the voice.

"Sharon Jacobs, I am a crime scene investigator up in New York City." The woman said with a sigh of relief.

"All right this is Krisalyn." Krisalyn said letting out her own silent sigh of relief.

"We need your help." Sharon said into the phone. "We heard that you're one of the best ballistics experts there is and we have a gun that needs to be put together but no one can figure out how to put all the pieces back together."

"I find that hard to believe but if someone can bring the weapon pieces out here I can put it back together. I just suffered a concussion not to long ago and I would prefer not to fly for a while." Krisalyn said making up an excuse. The truth was that New York was way to close to her old job and she knew if she went out that way she would have to visit her mother. That was one place she wasn't prepared to go back to just yet.

"I will personally bring the pieces down to your lab out there. Thank you so much." Sharon said before the call was disconnected.

* * *

Krisalyn frowned unsure of how she felt about this. The whole thing seemed rather strange and unlikely. No weapon could be in that bad of shape that a regular CSI wouldn't be able to put it back together. She picked up her phone list that Grissom had recently given her and dialed Grissom's office number. She may be new in town but she was pretty sure that Grissom was a work a holic.

"Grissom." Came the stiff reply.

"It's Krisalyn." She said hesitantly. He sounded like he was really tired or in the middle of something important she wasn't all that sure if she wanted to bother him with any of this.

"Hey is something wrong?" Grissom asked her with a worried tone.

"No. I just got a call from a CSI out in New York. She is going to be heading out here with some weapon pieces she wants me to work with. She said there is no one who can seem to put them back together." Krisalyn said hoping to get his honest reaction to this.

"Well that should keep you out of trouble but your on medical leave for the next few days." Grissom said with a frown.

"I know but this is time sensitive so do you think I could work in the lab?" Krisalyn asked wincing as she remembered she was on leave.

"All right just try not to let anyone higher than me see you or were in for some big lectures." Grissom said always a sucker for evidence that was time sensitive.

"Thanks." Krisalyn said as she hung up the phone.

* * *

He was grinning as he targeted the victim that would help make his new crime scene. He was trying to figure out how this one would be killed. He liked to try new things but if one of the olds ones suited her best than so be it. He saw the woman cross her arms as she watched her kids play in the front yard. He couldn't figure out why any parent let their kids play outside after dark but he laughed silently because it gave him the opportunity to slip into the house.

It was early in the morning, the sun wasn't even out yet when he made his move. He knew she was fast asleep and he grabbed the cloth with chloroform and put it over the woman's mouth. She woke with a start but it was to late and she was out cold. Now he had the victim for his scene and he would start on his Las Vegas investigators. These two would be the first to feel his new wrath at the newest problem that had surfaced in his criminal and evil mind.

* * *

Grissom studied the gruesome crime scene in front of him and already knew who would have to work it. From the experience of other cities, if anyone worked the set up crime scenes that had clues left at them from the killer than there would be a severe price to pay. A price that Grissom wasn't ready for anyone to pay at the moment. He paged Nick and Krisalyn, knowing she was at headquarters awaiting the arrival of the investigator from New York. He groaned as he realized that meant he was going to have to deal with the higher ups.

* * *

Nick looked at his pager and shook his head. He walked out of the lounge where he was looking over his incident report and towards the area where his gear was being stored. He had a feeling this was a scene he was going to regret working.

* * *

Krisalyn frowned as she looked at her pager. The only reason Grissom would page her to a crime scene was if it was the serial killer. She gulped and bit her bottom lip as she slowly climbed out of the chair in the ballistics lab she was sitting on. This was going to be a long day, that was something she already knew. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nick arrived at the scene first and looked around at everyone that was gathered around. He wasn't a novice when it came to working scenes so he could tell that there were way to many unnecessary people around the area. He frowned and walked over to where Grissom was standing and motioned around him at the workers that were just standing around.

"Are we throwing a crime scene party that I didn't know about?" Nick asked with a sarcastic look.

"Nope. We just got word that they want to enforce a new task force when it comes to this killer. Most of these guys are new arrivals waiting for orders from their boss. The uniformed cops getting ready to lose their lunch are the first on scene. Before you head over to where the body is there is something you should know." Kathryn said taking off her sunglasses and looking him over.

"Oh yeah and what's that?" Nick asked taking his own sunglasses off to study her face.

"Your name is all over this one, literally." Kathryn said with a shrug of her shoulders. "It looks to me like he wanted to make sure you knew that this was your scene and that you were the only one supposed to work it."

"Just my name?" Nick asked referring to Krisalyn.

"No she is mentioned but it's mostly yours. If he sticks with his regular pattern than your name will be on the female victims and her name will be on the males." Kathryn said shrugging her shoulders again.

"Good to know, I think." Nick said rolling his eyes. "So the vic is a female, know anything else?"

"Not yet. There is no ID and it looks like she was taking from her bed so there wont be one until someone files a missing persons report." Kathryn said as they walked towards the vic.

* * *

Kathryn looked over to where they had just left a silently brooding Grissom. She knew there was a reason he hadn't addressed Nick when he had approached and it was why she had. She sighed and then grabbed up the remainder of her gear and saluted Nick.

"It's all yours and Krisalyn's when she arrives." Kathryn said smiling as she left the area.

* * *

Nick watched his colleagues enter their vehicle and leave him at the scene. He looked at all the officers around him and had to shake his head at his own haunting fears. He still remembered the time when he had been kidnapped from a scene and although this scene was completely different his fears were the same and very real. He set down his gear and replaced his sunglasses where they would shield his eyes. He had worked plenty of crime scenes on his own so he wasn't all that concerned about being there without another investigator, his only concern was the name that was imprinted on the woman's head. It had clearly been carved in, probably while she was still alive. It was his name that was marked in the woman's skin.

* * *

He looked downward into the socket where her eyes were supposed to be and gulped when he saw empty sockets. He had seen many gruesome crime scenes on this job but for some reason this one hit him hard, most likely because his name was written all over the place. Sighing he continued his first glance of the victim's body and groaned with displeasure as he realized his name was definitely all over the crime scene. It was mainly on the victim and it was enough to make even his own stomach lurch. Sighing again he pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and popped a piece into his mouth to try and keep from losing some of meal he had managed to eat earlier.

He grinned as he watched the crime scene technician work the scene solo. He knew the other one was probably on her way but at least the bosses here in Vegas didn't have a notion that they could protect their people from him. They had probably learned from the other cities mistakes and were taking that into consideration. He laughed as he photographed the scenes before him and checked to make sure the video camera was videotaping the investigator working his scene. This was going to be his best work yet, he had a feeling.

* * *

Nick glanced up when he heard another vehicle approaching and sighed with displeasure as he saw Krisalyn slowly unfold herself from behind the wheel. A part of him was glad she was back on her feet after the last crime scene and another part of him was angry to see her. As much as he remembered being a target before he had a feeling this time was different and he didn't want any innocent women around him. Sighing yet again he felt disgusted with himself for trying to pretend like she wasn't a target herself.

"What took you so long?" He asked her gruffly.

"Why are you so cranky?" Krisalyn asked him taking her sunglasses off of her face and cocking an eyebrow.

"You're name isn't carved into an innocent woman's forehead." Nick said with another sigh.

"Ouch. Well do you want me to work the vic?" She asked trying to be helpful.

"No. I already started with her. Why don't you check the surrounding area for something." Nick suggested with a sigh.

Nick turned back to the victim and sucked in his breath. He had a feeling he was going to regret his decision to continue working with the victim.

* * *

He laughed as he watched them work the crime scene the way they were trained to. It was always good to know that things went the way you planned. He was going to have thank all his training in his past for getting him to this point. It was always nice to know that stupid people could train future serial killers without even realizing it. He laughed even louder as he watched his little puppets as he was ready to refer to them, work the scene as they were trained, following his trail. Boy he couldn't wait till the real fun started and it would start real soon. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nick grabbed his kit and headed towards his car. He had some evidence he wanted to rush back to the lab and he already saw that Krisalyn was well involved in the scene. He glanced at the coroners van that was taking away the victims mutilated body. He stopped dead in his tracks when he remembered what happened last time he left her at a scene. Groaning he walked towards her and stood off to the side.

"I am going to head back to the lab." He told her with a lifted eyebrow. "You ready?"

"Just because you are leaving doesn't mean I have to." Krisalyn said getting to her feet.

"After what happened last time, it does." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him. It was really hard to cross them though with the kit in his hand.

"No it doesn't." Krisalyn said walking towards him. "Look it's sweet that you don't want to leave me here, but I don't think of you like that." She teased him.

"Like what?" Nick asked confused.

"Like more than a colleague." Krisalyn hinted with a shake of her head. She turned away from him so he wouldn't see her laughing.

"So not even as friends?" Nick asked her softly.

"Friends, maybe." She relented and then walked back to what she was processing. "Head back in to the lab, I have things here."

"No I'll stay and help." Nick said setting his kit aside.

* * *

He laughed as he watched the two of them working together. It was hilarious to listen to them talk to each other. You could already tell they couldn't stand each other. He bit his bottom lip and then released it to feel blood pouring and taste fill his mouth. He grinned as he spit some into the envelope that he was preparing to send to the lab. He sealed it and wrote Krisalyn's name on the front so she wouldn't feel so left out. He came up with a new plan of attack as he watched them together, he had a new drug he needed to test out anyway. Now it was about getting his little helper to help him plant the drug.

* * *

Krisalyn walked through the halls until she reached the ballistic lab where she saw a young brunette woman sitting. He hair was down to her shoulders with a little bit of a wave to it. She was tan, more than you would expect from a New Yorker and she was tiny. She had to be about 5'4 and she couldn't weigh more than 110 lbs. Krisalyn noticed the tight black jeans and tight black tank top and knew immediately she didn't like her.

"Are you the NY CSI I spoke to on the phone?" Krisalyn asked walking into the room.

"No. I am a NY CSI but not the one you were expecting. She got held up in court on another case and I offered to fly out and get your expertise. My name is J.J." The woman said offereing her hand to Krisalyn.

"Krisalyn." She said shaking her hand skeptically. There was something about this woman that she didn't trust, although she wasn't sure what it was.

"Hey Krisalyn I was wondering if you developed your photo's yet?" Nick asked and then looked up and noticed the other woman in the room. "Well hello there." He said raising his eyebrows.

"Hi." J.J. said flirting with him. "My name is CSI Janine Killings. Everyone calls me J.J. though."

"Nick Stokes." He said walking into the room and shaking her hand.

"What are you doing for dinner tonight?" J.J. asked him biting her lower lip.

"Nothing that I know of." Nick said flirting back.

"Join me?" J.J. asked him with a smile.

"Love to. Are you busy right now or can we go talk about tonight?" Nick asked her.

"Not busy. Kristine, the pieces are in that envelope over there." J.J. said pointing to a table.

"It's Krisalyn." Krisalyn said evenly trying not to smack the woman. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so jealous but she was. "Unfortunately I can't work on them tonight, I promised my daughter I would be home early."

"Fine, we can work on them tomorrow." J.J. said starting for the door.

"I'll meet you in the lounge area, do you know where that is?" Nick asked her.

"Yeah I got the tour when I arrived." J.J. said shrugging as she left.

Nick watched her walk away and then turned towards Krisalyn. He arched an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms in front of him.

"You don't have a daughter." Nick said staring at her.

"Show's how much you know. She's five and she needs me." Krisalyn said logging in the ballistic evidence from New York.

"Where's her dad?" Nick asked her.

"None of your business." Krisalyn said evenly and walked out after logging everything.

* * *

Krisalyn let herself into her empty home and sat on the couch exhausted. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes against the images that were there.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked herself jumping to her feet.

* * *

Nick sat across from J.J. in the dining area in the lobby of her hotel and could tell there was a specific reason she had asked to eat there. He was all for it but for some reason he wasn't as interested in her as he thought. He tried to wrap his mind around the thought that Krisalyn was a mother but for some reason it didn't seem to fit. He put his napkin on top of the table and smiled at J.J.

"I need to make a phone call. Be right back." Nick said getting to his feet.

"All right but hurry." J.J. said with a flirtatious grin.

Nick pulled out his cell and dialed Grissom's office number. He waited patiently for him to answer while watching J.J. out of the corner of his eye.

"Grissom." Came the gruff answer.

"It's Nick. Does Krisalyn have a kid?" Nick asked quickly.

"Why do you want to know?" Grissom asked, Nick could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Just wondering." Nick said uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why it was so important that he find this out but it was.

"No, she had a daughter who would have been five this year. Her daughter was killed by a serial killer who became obsessed with her." Grissom said evenly.

"Oh man." Nick said sucking in a deep breath.

"Today is her birthday, her fifth. It's also the one year anniversary of the girl's death. Her old boss called to tell me to keep an eye on her. I wish I could have convinced her to have dinner with Sara and I but she was stubborn." Grissom said with a sigh.

"Thanks Grissom." Nick said as he hung up with phone.

* * *

Krisalyn stared at Ella's photo and closed her eyes at the fresh tears that fell. It was so painful that at times she didn't think she could bear it. Her precious baby was gone and it was all her fault. She had moved as far away from that city as she could get and yet everything was happening again. A physcho serial killer was trying to kill her and there was nothing she could do about it. She opened her eyes as she heard her buzzer.

"Who is it?" Krisalyn asked into the intercom.

"A co-worker." Came the reply.

Krisalyn frowned as she buzzed him in and rolled her eyes. She glanced into the hall mirror and saw she was a mess but didn't really care. She heard the knock on her door and opened it to see Nick standing there.

"You look like hell." He said gently.

"Gee you know how to make a woman feel good." Krisalyn said rolling her eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"I heard about your little girl. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Nick said walking passed her into the apartment.

Krisalyn looked him up and down and saw he was wearing a nice suit. "Weren't you on a date tonight?"

"Some things are more important." Nick said evenly.

"You don't even know me, besides I have been royally mean to you." Krisalyn said walking over to her couch and taking a seat.

"But you're still a co-worker and I said earlier I wanted us to try and be friends." Nick reminded her sitting right next to her.

* * *

Nick walked through the halls of the CSI building and noticed everyone staring at him. He looked down at himself to make sure he was fully dressed and then back up to see what they were staring at. He shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the photo lab area to see how the prints were looking. He passed the ballistics lab and saw Krisalyn working with J.J., he had to laugh at that. Everyone could already tell that Krisalyn wasn't fond of the New Yorker and he couldn't wait until she found out that Janine had requested a transfer down here.

"Hey Stokes I need to speak with you." Warrick said walking over to him.

"What's up?" Nick asked as he arched a brow at his friend.

"We all went by your place last night, please do not tell me you spent the night with that NY CSI." Warrick said crossing his arms in front of him.

"Okay it's none of your business where I was." Nick said as he started to walk past him.

"Kathryn said you went out with her. Look Sara and Kathryn feel there is something fishy about her and they wanted me to pass it on." Warrick said holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.

"Thanks for the warning." Nick said as he shook his head. "I was out with her and then I went to check on Krisalyn. I spent the night at her place."

"Really? That's an improvement." Warrick said with a smirk.

"Not in her bed, in the guest room. We were talking and we had a little bit to drink and she didn't want me to leave." Nick said shrugging his shoulders.

"Sure whatever. Have you seen a picture of her kid? Beautiful little girl. It reminded me of the case we worked out there on the East Coast." Warrick said shaking his head.

* * *

He laughed as he watched everyone jump around in the parking lot. No one knew he was there and yet they seemed to sense that danger might be lurking nearby. He had to laugh at the thought that he was considered a dangerous person but then that was what he wanted in the first place. He couldn't believe how incredible lucky he had been that no one had been able to catch him but then again that's how it was in each city. He looked at the photograph and laughed. No one would know his real purpose no one at all.

_Flashback:_

"_I just feel like he cares more about me than you do." The woman said softly._

_He lifted his hand to her blonde hair and stroked it lovingly. "I love you."_

"_We broke up for a reason. Look this guy doesn't care what I look like. He spent more time getting to know the real me than you ever bothered to." She said angrily. "He actually cares about me and not about getting me naked."_

"_How could you say that!" He asked shocked at her words._

"_I am a forensic analyst. I look at scientific facts and evidence." She said before she walked away. "I meant what I said about us being over, just forget about me." She called over her shoulder._

_End Flashback_

He would remember the hurt he had felt when he had seen her out with that guy. They were the reason he attacked a male and a female CSI every time. He had to get even in some way and this was the best way that he knew how.

* * *

Krisalyn looked up as she heard the door slam and her eyes widened when she saw Nick standing there with an angry look. She looked over at J.J. who was staring at him with gaga eyes and she looked back to his angry scowl.

"Need me to leave you two alone?" She asked softly.

"No. J.J. could you excuse us for a minute? It's top secret." Nick said evenly without looking at the other woman.

"Sure Nicky." J.J. said with a flirtatious grin.

Nick waited until Janine was out of the room before he took a deep calming breath. He wasn't sure why he wanted to go off on Krisalyn at work but he had a feeling that this needed to be addressed.

"You hated me long before you got transferred here." Nick said evenly.

"Yes." Krisalyn said not bothering to deny it.

"I didn't even remember until I saw her picture. She looked like me." Nick said as he tossed a scanned photo on the countertop. "Your little girl, was she mine?"

* * *

He grabbed his newest victim and stuffed her body in the trunk of her car with a laugh. This one was going to feel even more pain. He decided to change his pattern of killing and so instead of killing boy then girl or girl then boy he would be as random as possible. They would be so confused. This was going to be so much fun. 


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry it took so long for an update! I know you have been waiting patiently but I was hospitalized twice and had a few surgeries. I am still pretty sick but I thought I should try my best to get here and update this for you. Again sorry for the delay!

* * *

Chapter 6

Krisalyn stared at Nick as she sucked in a deep breath. She thought quickly about whether or not to tell him the whole truth but realized immediately she didn't have a choice. She saw the picture that was crushed in his hands and closed her eyes against the tears that were threatening to fall. She turned away from him and took another deep breath, trying to calm down the feelings raging deeply inside her.

"Yes she was yours. Just like she was mine." Krisalyn said and realizing she was failing, she quickly locked the evidence back up and tried to walk out of the lab.

"Oh no you aren't walking away that easily." Nick said angrily grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. When he saw the look on her face and the tears falling his face softened and pulled her into his arms. "I'm mad that I didn't get the chance to know her, but I can see that right now isn't the time to discuss this."

"She knew about you." She whispered into his chest as she sobbed.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked confused as he pulled her slightly away from him.

"Those pictures we took, I developed them and framed them. She had them by her bed and every night I told her stories about the time we spent together and the some of the things you told me about your family. My boss has friends out here and they would call and tell him things about you so that I could tell Ella. She always laughed and I promised her that when I brought her out here to see the tigers that she could see you." Krisalyn said struggling with her emotions.

"The tigers?" Nick asked with a small smile.

"She wanted to come and see the white tigers. I had her buried out here in Vegas because this is where she wanted to come and see them. When I go and visit her grave I bring a little stuffed white tiger with me for her. I know it sounds silly but I promised her." Krisalyn said smiling even though the tears rolled down her face.

"Will you tell me what happened to her?" Nick asked.

"Please not today, maybe some other day but not today, I can't handle it today." Krisalyn said shaking her head.

"I am still angry about not knowing about her." Nick warned her.

* * *

Grissom and Sara stood outside the ballistics lab with the evidence they wanted Krisalyn to run for them, watching the scene unfold.

"Well are we going to have another office romance to help hide?" Sara joked as she walked fully into the room.

* * *

Krisalyn and Nick jumped apart, with a red blush creeping up both their cheeks.

"If I have my way we will." JJ said walking in behind Sara and Grissom. "Speaking of which, are you going to make last night's dinner up to me?" She asked Nick wiggling her eyebrows.

* * *

Nick just stared at her, unsure of what he should say at this point. Instead of saying anything he shrugged his shoulders and just walked out of the lab area.

* * *

He laughed as he posed his latest victim. This was the easiest kill of his entire career, and yes this was a career to him. These people were nothing but stepping stones. He made so much publicity and the money he did manage to get was enough to keep him living comfortably. Killing always paid well and sometimes he worked real jobs just to keep from looking suspicious. It was easy to keep cops on their toes and away from what was really going on. Sometimes it was even hilarious how close they could get without actually seeing what was right in front of their faces.

* * *

Krisalyn was finishing up with the test fires on Grissom's case when her pager started blaring. She rolled her eyes and set everything aside to see what it said. She frowned when she realized she didn't recognize the number. She collected the bullets and properly logged everything before she logged herself out of the lab and put herself out in the field. She grabbed a radio and checked her weapon to make sure everything was ready, grabbed her kit and headed out of the lab. She figured that she would be meeting Nick on scene if this was part of their case.

* * *

He watched impatiently as Krisalyn arrived at her private showing. He had made sure that Nick Stokes was unavailable and that no one else knew she was going to this call. He was going to give her a little scare, and little scare with some real live memories attached. He had pulled up everything about her little girl's brutal death and it made him smile to think of everything she was about to go through. She was going to relive the worst day of her life and there was nothing anyone could do for her.

* * *

Grissom and Sara walked into the ballistics lab and frowned when they didn't see Krisalyn or any reports for them. Grissom walked over to the log hanging there and noticed she had put herself in the field for a crime scene. He frowned even more when he realized he had never notified her of a crime because as far as he knew there were no scenes for her to process. He looked out and saw Nick standing in the hallway talking to the NY CSI and shook his head. If Nick was in here then that meant that Krisalyn was riding solo after he specifically said that was not allowed.

* * *

Nick saw Grissom walking angrily towards him and took a step back. He wasn't sure what was wrong but he had a feeling that he was going to be the one to pay for someone else's major mistake.

"Krisalyn signed herself out as on scene and you're not with her." Grissom said stopping right in front of him.

"I don't have my pager." Nick said frowning as he checked his belt.

"Why not?" Sara asked as she walked up.

"The battery died and I turned it in upstairs for replacement. They were supposed to page me over the intercome system when it's ready." Nick said quickly. "I swear Grissom I didn't know Krisalyn was leaving."

"I know." Grissom said frowning. "What worries me is that I don't know where she is. I didn't send her to a scene Nick and she didn't fill out a location sheet."

"What?" Nick asked with a gulp.

* * *

Krisalyn walked through the warehouse with a weary feeling. She already knew something wasn't right but she wasn't sure what that something was. She saw what appeared to be a scene in front of her but it worried her that she had yet to see a police officer. As she neared the scene the kit fell from her hands as she saw a doll covered in blood lying there with a picture over their face. The picture was Krisalyn's favorite of Ella. She slowly turned around and saw the different crime scene photo's of Ella's scene and dropped to her knees. She felt like throwing up again as she started rocking back and forth, memories assaulted her as she remembered the day she had found her baby in a puddle of blood. She didn't hear anyone come up behind her and she didn't feel the object slam into her head, all she knew was she couldn't see anything anymore.

* * *

Nick got his pager back and the minute he did he got a fresh page. He checked with Grissom and learned they were all going to this scene. When they got there he saw Krisalyn lying next to the body of a woman. She was pale and there was a look on her face of utter fright, at that moment Nick wanted to kill whoever had done this. He knelt down next to Krisalyn and held her hand as he waited for the paramedics to get in there. The only thing he could think of was thank goodness she was still alive.

* * *

He laughed as he watched everyone gather around the scene. He saw CSI Stokes walk out with the paramedics and get into the ambulance with Krisalyn and he laughed to himself. Things were going better than he ever thought they would. So now they would work the crime scene and try to figure things out. He had left them a few clues, a few danglers to help get them on their way into figuring things out but they never would. He had made sure that they were only teasers and that they would be as stumped as ever. He watched as CSI Willows walked outside from the warehouse and started to turn in a circle. He could already tell she was trying to get a feel for the place but she wouldn't get a feel for anything.

* * *

Kathryn had a bad feeling about this place. Something just didn't feel right. She turned her attention back to the warehouse and glanced inside to see Grissom, Sara, Greg and Warrick all working hard at the scene. She frowned as she noticed something on the outside of the warehouse, just next to the door. It was bothering her but she wasn't all that sure what it was. She snapped a couple of pictures and leaned in before her eyes widened.

"Everyone out of there now!" She shouted as she stepped inside again. "The place is wired, clear out now!"

Everyone scrambled to their feet and dropping everything in their hands ran for their lives. They ran towards the outer perimeter.

* * *

He stopped laughing when he saw them all running. So someone had found out, no problem there. He just wouldn't let them play the game anymore. He pressed the detonator and watched the place go up in a ball of flames.

* * *

Everyone stared at the warehouse they had just been in moments before and watched it burn. Everyone looked around at each other, grateful they still had the ability to do that. Sucking in deep breaths they waited for the fire department to get there.

* * *

Nick looked up a couple of hours later to see Grissom walk into the hospital room. He shook his head at the sight of dirt and soot and figured he wasn't going to want to know why he looked like that.

"All the evidence is gone." Grissom said somberly.

"What?" Nick asked shocked.

"The whole place blew up. There was bomb and the bomb squad is combing the place now with Greg and Sara." Grissom said as he looked at Krisalyn.

"She's gonna be all right. A concussion and some bruises but that's about it." Nick said reading his mind. "I am gonna have her stay at my place when she's released so I can keep an eye on her, doc doesn't want her alone and I figure I owe her."

"I don't think she is gonna be to receptive to that idea." Grissom pointed out arching an eyebrow.

"I don't think she's gonna have much of a choice, unless she would rather stay here." Nick pointed out with a shrug.

"All right but if worse comes to it, Sara said she could always stay with her." Grissom said with a smirk. "But then I know you won't mention that to her."

"Nope." Nick said shaking his head. "I figure we could use this time to talk about Ella, I do want to know what she was like."

"I figured as much." Grissom said with a sigh. "I don't think I have had a CSI who has been in the hospital this many times this close together." He chuckled softly. "Brass wants to talk to her as soon as she wakes up."

"He can talk to her when she is able to talk." Nick said shrugging again.

"Gee someone is acting a little posesive there. Last time I checked you two were barely even friends." Kathryn said walking into the room.

"Yeah well we are friends and friends look out for each other." Nick said glaring at her.

* * *

He laughed again as he chose his next victim. This time it would be a police officer. This time it would be someone they all knew and this time it would hit them as close to home as he could get. He laughed louder as he studied his victim and shook his head at the gun on her hip, it wouldn't save her life this time. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nick glanced over at the bed when he heard a sound coming from it. He smiled as he saw her tossing and turning and then frowned when he realized she was having a nightmare. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Fight it Krisalyn, you're safe now. Remember happy memories only." Nick said softly as he leaned back into the chair. He smiled as he remembered when he and Krisalyn had first met.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Nick and Warrick arrived in the new city with a roll of their eyes. One of their cases from Las Vegas had been connected to a case out in Maine and so they were forced to go and assist the CSI's there. Groaning they saw a female standing there with a scowel on her face and an ID tag that marked her as a CSI._

"_Look's like it's our lucky day." Warrick whispered sarcastically. "Seems like she don't want us here."_

"_You wouldn't want her in Vegas either so let's just call it a drawl." Nick whispered his eyes fixated on the blonde standing there._

"_You digging her?" Warrick asked arching a brow as they made their way towards her._

"_No." Nick said a little to quickly. _

"_Well you two sure take your time. I am Krisalyn and I'll be your date for the duration of this case." The blonde said rolling her eyes._

_It was then that Nick realized there was something about her that was special. They had started seeing each other a couple of days after they arrived there in Maine and it became serious. It ended badly when the case was solved and Nick refused to even think about transferring to Maine. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

Nick shook his head at the memories that had assaulted his mind and then looked down at the sleeping woman who had a peaceful look on her face at that point. He smiled as he closed his eyes, already deciding he couldn't leave her alone no matter what happened.

* * *

The officer's face was contorted with fear as she realized who he was and what her fate was about to become. He shook his head with an evil grin on his face as he made his decision that she was going to suffer severely and she was going to wish that she never wore that badge on her chest. He could already tell that she was trying to formulate a plan in that stupid little head of hers. He laughed loudly as he smacked her hard across the face to make her realize that nothing she could think of would help her out now, it was time for her to die and she would die slower than the others. He would make sure this one begged for her life and he would make sure that she felt the pain as she lost every ounce of blood in her body. He made sure the straps were tight as he got to work on his best work yet.

* * *

Nick woke up when he felt someone watching him and noticed that Krisalyn was awake and staring at him from the bed. He moved and winced when he felt a sharp pain shooting through his neck. She saw her wince to as if she felt guilty that he had slept there for her and woken up with a sore neck.

"Hey no wincing." He teased as he leaned forward to place his elbows on the side of the bed. "That's my job and my job only."

"What happened?" Krisalyn asked with a frown.

"You tell me. We found you lying unconscious next to a victim. Luckily no one else was hurt considering there was a bomb in the building, all the evidence was destroyed." Nick told her shrugging his shoulders.

"The last thing I remember is blood and pictures of Ella. Someone had her crime scene photos and all I could see was her dead body everywhere. I panicked and I remember freaking out and crying and screaming and then there was pain and that's it." Krisalyn said knowing there was something else she had seen that she couldn't quit remembers at that moment. There was something else locked in her brain but that was all that was coming out at the moment.

* * *

Nick looked at the pain crossing all her features and he saw the panic welling up in her eyes as if she were back in that warehouse staring at those nasty photos of their daughter. He felt the anger rise in him again at what she had to have gone through again. He swallowed several times before he trusted his voice enough to speak and he smiled at her before he opened his mouth.

"Listen there are no more pictures okay? You are safe here and after wards you're coming home with me." Nick informed her quickly.

Krisalyn heard what he said but it took a moment for the last part to register within her brain. Her eyes widened and she turned towards him shaking her head no.

"I don't think so." She said quickly.

"I think so. Doctor say's you can't be alone for a while and Grissom said he was going to give us both some time off, you because medical problems and me because I am the one who will be taking care of you." Nick said shrugging his shoulders.

"I have been taking care of myself for a long time; I don't need anyone to take care of me." Krisalyn said stubbornly.

"I beg to differ. What were you thinking going out there solo and not even filling out a location sheet?" Nick asked finally voicing what everyone had been thinking and not saying.

"I thought that Grissom had paged me since the code was the same as he uses, and I thought you were going to be meeting me there." Krisalyn said and then winced when she realized that still didn't explain the mistake of the sheet.

"The location sheet?" Nick asked picking up on it.

"That was a mistake." Krisalyn admitted softly.

"A mistake that could have cost you your life." Nick pointed out with a scowl on his face. "Look no one wants to pick on you but you have to take responsibility for everything you do. You have to remember the rules and regulations and procedures. They are there to save your life."

"Since when do you care about stuff like that?" Krisalyn asked confused.

"Since I nearly lost my life after being kidnapped from a crime scene." Nick whispered as he fought with his mind. He didn't want to go back to that memory; he didn't want to be back in that horrible box, waiting to be found or waiting for the right moment to take his own life. He didn't want to remember anything about that time.

"What do you mean?" Krisalyn asked confused.

"Nothing, let's just drop it okay." Nick said not wanting to get into detail about anything.

"Nick, you can talk to me." Krisalyn whispered.

"Maybe I just don't want to talk." Nick said getting to his feet. "Look it was a bad time for me and I don't want to think about it."

"All right." Krisalyn nodded slowly.

"Look, I am gonna have Sara stop by your place and pack some of your stuff so that you have things to wear and then I'll have her drop them off here. I think the doctor will release you in a few days and when he does my place will be ready." Nick said wanting to leave the room as fast as possible.

* * *

He laughed as he saw her pale face as she felt her life's blood slowly drain out of her. He needed the blood for another phase in his plan and he was going to need plenty of it. He smirked as he saw the look of total surrender on her face as she realized there was no use fighting against it, he had made sure that she was going to die, the only thing she could do was wait until she took her last breath.

* * *

Her mind was spinning as she stared into the face of a monster. How could this be happening to her? She was supposed to be getting married in a few days and now here she was dying. She closed her eyes against the feelings welling up inside her and prayed for a miracle to happen. There had to be someone out there who could find here. Someone had to have seen this man grab her and someone must have gotten the license plate. She willed her mind to say it was just a dream but found that it wasn't when she opened her eyes again and saw the disgusting place she was in. She felt the tears fall down her cheeks and knew that she was well on her way to losing her life.

* * *

Krisalyn woke up with a sharp pain shooting through her heart. She felt the pain of someone else, she felt like someone needed her more than anything at that moment. She frowned as she sat up in the hospital bed and winced in pain. Something was deadly wrong and Krisalyn had the feeling that it was something she was going to have to deal with. She glanced around the dark room, grateful to see that Nick hadn't returned to sit with her tonight. She bit her bottom lip gently as she looked towards the window in her room and saw the moon shining brightly, the full moon that was. She closed her eyes and tried to think of what it was she had been dreaming, what had frightened her so badly, and why did she feel like she was needed elsewhere?

* * *

Nick stared out the window of his apartment and dialed the cordless phone he held in his hand. He had decided to ask Grissom to let him work while Krisalyn was in the hospital rather then giving him the whole time off. He frowned when he reached a machine and just hung up the phone. He kept his attention at the darkened sky of Las Vegas and tried to imagine Ella, the daughter he never met, and what she would be like. He felt the pain of not knowing and the anger of never being able to know feel him and he tried hard to tamp them down. Now was not the time to feel these feelings, he knew that.

"I don't know why you decided I wasn't ready to be a dad or why you decided Ella needed to be taken away so young, but I want to understand. I need to know why I wasn't given the chance I deserved with her?" Nick whispered into the night. His mind slowly drifted to the worse time in his life and he shivered as he thought about what Ella may have gone through. She had been kidnapped as well, but a child isn't as strong as an adult because they don't understand. He could only imagine what had gone through her head and he could only pray that it wasn't to bad. He closed his eyes and pictured the photograph that he had seen from the fax copy and smiled a small smile, he would at least know what she looked like if nothing else.

* * *

The pictures littered the room where all the toys were waiting. The paintings on the walls showed that a young child had once lived here, had once played in this very room. The paintings on the far wall, close to the window, were torn down and ripped apart as if someone had decided they didn't want them there anymore. It was a scene of desperation and despair, almost like a child lost and a family grieving. But to him it was all part of his plan, a plan that would make everything known. He placed the photo of the room back in it's place and turned his attention towards his victim who was now gasping for air. It wouldn't be long now before he got what he needed to start his official torture of CSI Stokes. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

He checked on the body and noticed the pale color. The blood was almost completely drained and he already knew she was dead. He let the blood continue to drain as the officer's lifeless body laid on the table before him. He was in heaven at the sight of her pale skin and relaxed limbs. She was a pure vision of beauty like this to him. He loved the sight and to him it was better than anything in the world he could have ever seen. He laughed softly to himself as he watched her blood drain slower, marking her death as the machine kicked in to drain it.

"Dead bodies don't bleed." He murmured as the machine continued to drain her blood. "You have to use mechanics to drain the blood of a dead person."

* * *

Nick silently continued to stare out the window of his apartment, unsure of what was going on inside his own head. The only thought he was thinking was that his daughter had never known that he would have cared for her. If he had only known she existed maybe he could have protected her. He slammed his fist down on the table when his pager went off and Nick looked down with a frown. It was a 9-1-1 page from the lab and that sent a sickening chill down his spine. The only reason he would get a page like that would be a missing person. This night was going to be a long one and he had a feeling it was also going to end in a tragic outcome.

* * *

Grissom looked up when he saw Nick walking into the lab. He nodded grimly and pointed to a chair at the conference table.

"We have a missing police officer." Grissom said simply as he slid a folder across the table towards Nick.

Nick caught the folder and winced as he thought about what this was going to mean. A police officer missing could only mean one thing, either this guy was escalating or this was all part of this plan. Nick could tell they all knew that this was their serial killer.

"Do we have any clues?" Nick asked looking at the officer's picture.

"Nope." Grissom said shaking his head negatively.

* * *

Krisalyn woke up and looked around the hospital room with a grimace. She wasn't sure what was going on but she had a bad feeling that something very bad was about to happen. She heard some commotion outside her room and looked up to see the police officer who was guarding her room check in on her. She could tell by the look on his face that something very bad had happened.

* * *

Nick and the team arrived at the warehouse where they found the body of the police officer. Grissom frowned when he saw her pale skin and noticed holes in her arms that looked like needle marks. He looked up at everyone and nodded as they all spread out to check out the scene. The tip had come in to Grissom's secure phone line about where the body was so they knew this guy wanted them to find the body, now they needed to figure out what was so big about the body now, why give it up so easily?

* * *

He laughed as he watched the team work the crime scene. They always worked a crime scene the same way, dusting for prints, taking pictures and stuff like that. He watched them work for a while before he made the decision to end their misery right then and there. He was about to set the newest bomb off when he saw Nick walk into the area.

"Dammit." He muttered to himself. He was going to torture CSI Stokes so he couldn't kill him. "You weren't supposed to be here to." He muttered as set the trigger away from him. He was going to have to let them all live until Stokes left the area. "You just had to go and ruin my plans, well fine, this means only a stupid patrolman is probably with Krisalyn, maybe I should start my torture with her." He said softly to himself as he turned his back towards the area and silently slipped away.

* * *

Krisalyn was feeling the worry in the pit of her stomach. Something was really off and she felt it. She knew that something bad was about to happen and yet she couldn't place her finger on exactly what that bad thing was. She groaned silently to herself as she tried to think about something other than the negative feelings wiggling into her head. Something had to go right for once, something good had to happen and she would figure out what that good thing was if it was the last thing she did.

"Who am I kidding, I am never going to think anything positive until the sick person who attacked me and killed those people is behind bars." She muttered to herself. She looked up when she heard a thump outside her room and slowly raised her bed with the electronic button.

* * *

Nick shook his head and then rolled his neck from side to side to get the crinks out. This scene was becoming more confusing all the time. He glanced over into a corner that had yet to be looked into and groaned as he realized he was going to have to be the one to head over there and look into it. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the device sitting there with a blinking red light. He gulped and slowly backed away.

"Hey you guys, um, I think we have a repeat of our last crime scene." He said as he kept backing away from the corner.

"What do you mean?" Grissom asked sharply.

"There's a device with a blinking red light over there in that corner." Nick pointed towards the corner as he continued to back away.

"All right everyone out and I'll call the bomb squad, it may be nothing but after the last crime scene exploded I'm not taking any chances." Grissom ordered as everyone got up and made for the exit as fast as possible.

* * *

Krisalyn waited patiently to see what was going on outside the door. She wanted more than anything to climb out of the hospital bed and open the door to check herself but she knew the officer was friends with Nick and considering the fact he was already really mad at her she didn't think it would be such a good idea.

"Oh who am I kidding, since when do I care what Nick thinks?" She muttered to herself as she threw the covers off and slowly swung her legs over the side. She reached up to unplug the IV from the wall and waited and until it beeped to let her know it was on battery power now. She planted her feet firmly on the floor and got to her feet. She felt the first wave of dizziness but firmly held her ground and clenched the IV pole tightly in her fist.

* * *

Kathryn looked up as she saw Nick frowning at the building. The bomb squad had secured the device and confirmed that it was a live bomb. They placed it into a secure container and detonated it so that no one would get hurt. Kathryn headed over to where Nick was standing and placed her hand gently on his arm.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked softly.

"Why didn't he detonate the device? Why are we all not dead?" Nick asked as he glared at the building.

"Maybe he had his own reasons." Warrick said as he joined into the conversation.

"Are we going to have to be afraid to head to crime scenes from now on?" Nick asked shaking his head.

"Yes." Grissom nodded grimly.

* * *

Krisalyn made it to the door and opened it slowly and stared out with wide eyes. The floor was practically deserted, like it was almost every night, but there was no officer in front of her door. She frowned as she opened it all the way and stepped into the hallway, grateful Sara had brought her pajamas from home so she didn't have to wear the awful hospital gowns. She glanced down the hallway to her right and then to her left and shook her head confused. Something was definitely not right and she had a feeling she better call someone to find out where the officer was.

* * *

He laughed as he glanced down into the fear filled eyes of the patrol officer he had just taken down. So this guy thought he was going to be able to take him down, well he obviously learned he wasn't a match. Shaking his head he whispered something into the officer's ear before he placed the gun to the officer temple and pulled the trigger. He pulled the gun away and smiled.

"Gotta love silencers, they certainly make murder so much easier." The man said laughing softly as he stepped out of the vacant room and kept his head away from the security camera sights.

* * *

Krisalyn was sitting on her bed staring at the phone, debating on whether or not to page Nick or just to leave it alone.

"Maybe he just went to the bathroom or something." She said to herself. "No he would have used the one here in the room to be close by. He wouldn't have left to get coffee because the nurses always bring that to him so he won't have to leave his post. Something is definitely wrong." She muttered to herself as she lifted the receiver and dialed 9.

* * *

Nick felt his pager vibrate and uttered a curse under his breath. He glanced around to make sure no one had heard him before he clicked a button on the side and ignored it. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone at the moment and since Grissom was with him he knew it wasn't Grissom that was paging him.

* * *

He laughed as he stood outside the door to her room. She was inside and probably sleeping like a little baby. He slipped the glasses into place just in case and opened the door slowly. He saw her sitting with her back to the door and the phone on the bed. So she had figured out something was wrong and was calling for help. By the time help arrived it would be a little too late.

* * *

The nurse opened the door to Krisalyn's room softly and saw the man making his way towards her.

"Excuse me sir you're not supposed to be in here." She said with a confused look on her face.

* * *

Krisalyn turned sharply around at that and saw a man rush by the nurse, slamming her into the door on his fast retreat out. She picked up the phone and dialed in Grissom's number with a 9-1-1 after it since Nick obviously wasn't responding. She got to her feet slowly and saw the nurse had hit her head. She banged on the call button and waited until someone else came into the room and saw what was going on. Krisalyn was as pale as a ghost.

* * *

Grissom looked at his pager and his eyes went wide. He jumped to his feet and ran out of the crime scene area, tearing his gloves off at the same time.

* * *

Sara watched him go and jumped to her feet as well, running right after him. Pretty soon it was a chain reaction and everyone was gathered around Grissom as he used a cell phone to make a phone call. They noticed the way his eyes looked at the ground and not at their face as he nodded and just listened on the phone. He said he would be right there and hung up and finally seeing his entire crew standing right there staring at him.

"Our killer showed up at the hospital. There is a nurse unconscious and Krisalyn said she needs me there. She said she paged Nick just before the guy came in but you never answered your page." Grissom said turning his attention to Nick.

"I didn't even look at it." Nick said looking at the ground and feeling angry with himself. "What happened to Officer Thompson?"

"He's missing. Brass is already enroute with a couple of officers but Krisalyn wants someone else there." Grissom said with a shrug. "You guys can finish up the scene I'll head up to the hospital and sit with her."

"How about if I go?" Nick asked softly.

"You can go with me, but as her supervisor I need to be there." Grissom said after a moment of silence.

* * *

That stupid little nurse, she ruined everything. Well now she was going to have to pay with her life soon. Krisalyn got lucky tonight but soon that luck would wear off for the pretty little CSI and CSI Stokes would also learn that he was playing on a losing team. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Krisalyn looked up when the door opened and noticed that it was Grissom and Nick. She gave Nick a very dirty look and leaned back in her bed as the doctor continued to examine her.

"So when you got up you were dizzy?" The doctor asked for the millionth time.

"Yes." Krisalyn said through gritted teeth. "Look we know I have a head injury so it's going to take me a while before I can walk without feeling dizzy. I would think everything was normal." She said with a sigh.

"Probably." The doctor nodded with a shrug before he made a note on her chart and then left the room.

"You didn't have to give him such a hard time." Grissom pointed out taking a seat.

"Officer Thompson is dead." Krisalyn said simply as she watched the reaction on Grissom's face.

"What?" Nick asked softly.

"He was shot in the head." Krisalyn said as she turned her gaze towards Nick. "They found him in one of the empty rooms. Another CSI team is in there right now."

"Did you hear the shot?" Grissom asked frowning.

"No, which is weird unless he used some type of silencing device." Krisalyn said trying to think about it. "All I remember is getting a bad feeling and when I noticed Officer Thompson was gone it only got worse. He never leaves his post for anything. So I paged Nick, got no response and the guy came in. Lucky for me a nurse came in right after him and scared him off otherwise I would most likely be dead right now."

"I'm sorry I didn't answer my page but we were at a crime scene." Nick said as he walked towards the bed.

"Yeah well so was Grissom." Krisalyn pointed out and then rolled her eyes. "Look I get that you're mad at me, but this is no time to just ignore me because of it. I screwed up, I get that, but right now we have a serial killer who wants both you and me dead."

"I know that." Nick said starting to get annoyed.

"So why aren't you acting like you know that?" Krisalyn asked pointedly.

"Because maybe right now I just don't feel like it." Nick said getting annoyed with her. "Look Officer Thompson was my friend and I don't feel like having an argument with you right now, especially since I just found out he has been murdered."

"Wow you two are really annoying each other. I don't think it's wise that she stays with you when she is released from here, she might not come out of your place alive." Kathryn said as she walked into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Grissom asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Come on, you didn't think I would let you two macho men flank a poor injured young woman now did you? I figured Krisalyn might need some female backup." Kathryn said as she walked over to the bed.

"I could use some, just like I am going to be staying somewhere else." Krisalyn said as she looked at Nick with a stubborn look. "I can't stay with him when he is being a complete and total jerk."

"I am not being a jerk." Nick said getting mad.

"Nick why don't you and I go down the hall and get some coffee, Kathryn do you want some?" Grissom asked getting to his feet.

"Sure." Kathryn nodded as she watched Grissom push Nick out of the room.

"I can't believe him." Krisalyn muttered as she leaned into the pillows behind her.

"He loves you." Kathryn stated matter of factly.

"Excuse me?" Krisalyn asked with her eyes going big.

"It's so obvious he has the hots for you." Kathryn said laughing.

"Having the hots for me and loving me are two different things." Krisalyn pointed out shaking her head and then wincing since she hadn't had any pain medication recently.

"He has both." Kathryn said with a shrug. "I noticed it when he and Warrick came back and Nick wouldn't even look twice at some of the women he had been eyeing. He has been in love with you since that trip."

"We barely know each other and we barely knew each other then to. I seriously doubt he loves me." Krisalyn said arguing with Kathryn since that seemed like the best option.

* * *

Nick and Grissom were standing in the doorway of the crime scene that housed Officer Thompson's body. Nick felt a pain in his chest as he looked at the sheet that covered his friends dead body. Officer Jake Thompson had been a friend of Nick's for a few years now. Nick turned his head away from the sight and headed back towards Krisalyn's room. He heard Grissom walking right beside him but didn't turn to look at his supervisor. As they walked back into the room Grissom handed Kathryn a cup of coffee and Nick took a seat next to Krisalyn's bed. He saw her eyeing him with a different look and wondered what the women had talked about.

"I think Grissom and I should head back to the lab and check on the evidence. We just lost two cops today." Kathryn said shaking her head.

"Nick's going to stay here tonight. I want a fellow CSI with her at all times. Someone will relieve you in the morning." Grissom said as he looked at Nick.

"All right." Nick said shrugging his shoulders. He had a feeling that tonight was going to be the longest night of his life.

* * *

Two hours later Krisalyn woke up from a small nap to see Nick staring out the window. She could already tell that he did that often. She tried not to make any noise so he wouldn't know that she was awake but unfortunately he turned around and smiled at her. Krisalyn sucked in a deep breath and rolled her eyes at her own emotions. There was no reason for her to be feeling this way at this moment.

"Kathryn thinks you're in love with me." Krisalyn said with a smirk. "Is it true? Do you love me Nicky?" She asked using a young nickname for Nick. She watched him grimace because she remembered that he wasn't to fond of being called Nicky.

"If you have to use a nickname just use the one my dad uses, poncho." Nick said with a sigh.

"You're avoiding the question." Krisalyn pointed out with another smirk.

"Maybe there is no reason for me to answer the question." Nick said with a shrug.

"All right, if that's the way you want to play. I've decided that when I get out of here I want to go home. I don't care what anyone says, I'm an adult woman and I can take care of myself. Besides Kathryn is right, if I stayed with you then we might kill each other." Krisalyn said with a sigh of her own.

"The whole thing is nonnegotiable. You're going to be staying with me when we finally spring you from this joint and that's final." Nick said getting frustrated with her again.

"All right, you want to tell me why this is so important to you?" Krisalyn asked softly.

"I don't know you think it's important. I am just trying to be a good friend and co-worker." Nick said leaning back in the recliner.

* * *

He was watching the house with a continuous growth of excitement. That stupid little nurse ruined his plans earlier and so he was going to deviate from them and kill her next. She had to go and screw everything up when it came right down to it. He had never actually killed a nurse before so he figured this was going to be exciting. He watched her husband walk in the door and could see the kids greeting him in the entryway. He remembered a time when he thought he was going to have all that to.

_Flashback_

_"You know one day we could have it all." He told her with a smile. "We could have a life that other people only dream about."_

_"I've heard that before. Look I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, we are over. I found someone who treats me so much better and he really loves me." She told him with an annoyed look on her face._

_"I love you." He said getting angry._

_"No you don't. If you loved me then you wouldn't treat me the way you do." She said as she got up from her seat. "Look just leave me alone all right?"_

_End Flashback_

He clenched his fists around the steering wheel and felt the anger boiling. He had been humiliated by her that day. She had said everything nice and loud and then her new boyfriend came over to her rescue. He had eventually taken care of them both but now it was about revenge on women like that stupid little… He let the thought trail off as a smile found it's way back to his face. Eventually he would be free of her. He would be free of the memories that tormented him and he would be free of all the women like her.

He looked over and noticed his plans that he had written out. He had everything all ready for his torture of that stupid CSI Stokes. Oh he wouldn't be ready for what was coming to him and he would be begging for death to take him by the time he was finished with him. He laughed as he turned his attention back to the house. He needed to come up with the perfect plan to make that nurse suffer for everything she had ruined.

* * *

Sara and Grissom were sitting in the lounge when Greg came in with the new CSI J.J.

"Hey has anyone seen Nick?" J.J. asked as she smiled at everyone in the room.

"He's with his new girlfriend." Greg said teasingly.

"Girlfriend? I thought he was serious about me." J.J. said getting angry.

"Um… I was joking. He's working protection duty tonight." Greg said perplexed on why that reaction came out.

"Oh, of course. Sorry." J.J. said with a shrug. "So anything new?" She asked sitting down opposite Sara.

"No, nothing on the two dead police officers." Sara said shaking her head, also in shock.

"J.J. do I need to remind you about office romances?" Grissom asked her with an arched brow.

"No but you are having one so I don't think the policy really applies here." J.J. said sweetly. "Besides I really think Nick and I are meant to be."

* * *

Kathryn and Warrick stood at the door to the lounge when J.J. made that last comment. They both glanced at each other mimicking the words and shaking their heads. Warrick slowly backed away making a motion like he was going to make a phone call and Kathryn walked all the way in, still unnoticed by the others in the room.

* * *

Warrick pulled out his cell as he walked down the hall. He quickly dialed the hospital and asked to be patched through to Krisalyn's room. Normally because it was so late they would have said no but since it was an officer guarded room they were allowing calls.

"Hello?" Came the male voice over the line.

"Nick, it's Warrick." Warrick said with a smirk on his face.

"What's up? New problems? Another body?" Nick asked quickly.

"No, just your little girlfriend down here is getting jealous that you aren't around here paying her any attention." Warrick said with a warning. "She's serious about you, she's talking about you being the one and all that. Man, you gotta do something about this or when she finds out you had a kid with Krisalyn, even if you two aren't seeing each other, she is going to become a huge problem."

"I hear you and she's not my girlfriend. I don't know what I could have possibly done that made her think I was interested." Nick said trying to think.

"You went out with her." Warrick reminded him.

"I left in the middle of dinner." Nick shot back.

"Yeah well she is totally feeling you." Warrick said with a sigh.

* * *

He laughed as he waited patiently for the right moment. He was going to make his move and soon the whole world would know about him. He was going to make history for this kill would make him a notorious serial killer. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nick stared at the phone as he hung it up. He glanced over and saw Krisalyn studying him through curious eyes. He could already tell that she was going to ask him about that conversation.

"So you're girlfriend misses you huh?" Krisalyn teased not realizing exactly what nerve that was going to hit.

"She's not my girlfriend." Nick said sharply.

"Take a chill pill, I was only teasing." Krisalyn said as she held her hands up in mock surrender. "You wanna tell me what has you all worked up?"

"It's none of your business." Nick said and then looked at the television set. "Let's just watch some TV."

"Whatever." Krisalyn shrugged.

* * *

J.J. finished her ballistics testing and glanced back and saw Grissom watching her closely. She frowned a little and then shrugged it off. She shot him a sweet smile and then turned back to her observations and writing her ballistics report. Now that her transfer to Las Vegas was finalized she was happy that she wouldn't be returning to New York anytime soon. Her friend and roommate was supervising the packing up of her belongings and would ship them out here. J.J. was hoping her new apartment would be temporary.

"Soon Nick and I will move in together and then get married. I know it's going to happen for us, I just know it." She whispered to herself.

* * *

Greg was watching J.J. from the other side of the lab. He had a bad feeling that J.J. wasn't going to be a great addition to the team. Ecklie had asked that she be slowly moved out into the field and he had a feeling he was going to be the one partnered with her before long.

* * *

Nick glanced over and saw that Krisalyn was frowning at him. He sighed and switched the television off and turned fully towards her. He already knew what she wanted to talk about and he had a feeling he was going to regret his decision to open the discussion.

"Just say it already." Nick said leaning back into the recliner.

"You don't have to baby-sit me if there is somewhere else you need to be. I won't tell Grissom you left." Krisalyn said with a sigh and a shrug.

"So that's what this is about? You think there is somewhere else I want to be?" Nick asked laughing.

"What's so funny?" Krisalyn asked annoyed.

"Nothing. Look if you think that I want to be with J.J. then you are out of your mind. I have a feeling I am going to regret ever flirting with that woman. I think she may just be psycho." Nick said sighing.

"Well she really likes you. Did I tell you that she cornered me the other day and asked if I was trying to steal you away from her?" Krisalyn asked recalling the event. "She literally had me pinned to locker room wall."

"You're kidding right?" Nick asked turning serious.

"I wish I was. It was an event I can honestly say that I will never forget. She had this look in her eyes that just told me to stay out of her way." Krisalyn said shaking her head and then wincing in pain.

"I would think you would already have learned that shaking you're head causes a headache." Nick said trying not to laugh at the look on her face.

"Will you stop laughing at me?" Krisalyn asked getting annoyed. "I might just call J.J. and tell her that you are here, driving me insane."

"You wouldn't dare." Nick said as he stopped laughing.

"Made you stop." Krisalyn said with a smirk.

* * *

Warrick watched J.J. very carefully. There was just something about her that really set off alarm bells within everyone in the lab. Even Hodges had come up to Grissom and said that something about her was creeping him out. Grissom had made repeated phone calls to the lab in New York where she transferred from and had received no answer from the supervisor there. They had all decided to take turns keeping watch on her, to see if they could figure her out.

* * *

Sara jumped when she heard the door slam to the locker room area. She glanced up when she saw Kathryn walk in with an annoyed look on her face. Sara smiled as she shook her head and sat down on a bench.

"So you heard the news to huh?" Sara asked with a smirk.

"Yes, I think it's bull." Kathryn said with a sigh.

"We aren't really going to lose Krisalyn to New York are we?" Sara asked suddenly. "Because I would rather have her over J.J. any day."

"I think everyone in the lab would agree, especially Nick." Kathryn said with a laugh. "That boy doesn't even realize how in love with her he is."

"Good, I am not the only one who sees it. Do you know how badly I have wanted to talk to someone else about this? Grissom just told me the other day that he doesn't believe Nick cares that much for her. But then again guys are blind when it comes to this sort of thing." Sara said turning on the bench to face her friend.

"Agreed. Warrick sees it though. In fact according to Warrick and Greg, Nick is so in love with her that he accidentally called Greg, Krisalyn." Kathryn said with a laugh.

"You're kidding me." Sara said laughing with her.

* * *

J.J. was standing on the other side of the lockers when she heard all of this. Her temper started to flair and she stomped out of the locker room. She had to find Nick and see what was going on there.

* * *

Nick and Krisalyn were laughing at something on the TV. Nick stopped laughing suddenly and stared at Krisalyn who was still laughing. She realized he wasn't laughing anymore and turned to look at him. She kept the smile on her face as she looked right back at him.

"What?" She asked starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Do you realize how sexy your laugh sounds?" He asked suddenly.

Krisalyn stopped smiling and bit her bottom lip gently. "Nick?" She asked seeing his him look away.

"I didn't mean for that to actually come out." He said softly. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"No, it's okay." Krisalyn said as she reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Will you look at me? I want to talk to you about Ella, I know that you have been avoiding that subject and I would really rather you hear about her."

"Krisalyn I don't think now is the time." Nick said and then sighed because he could tell she was determined.

"She had blonde hair, it was always so wild and curly. It would take me at least an hour to get it tamed. I remember thinking there is no way she could have all this hair right now, she's so little. Her eyes were so pretty, I remember looking into them and thinking that they always were sparkling." Krisalyn started and then stopped as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Her favorite TV show, Blue's Clue's. She loved music, it was one of her favorite things. She would make me sing to her every night before she went to sleep. If I wasn't home to tuck her in I had to sing over the phone."

* * *

Nick listened in silence and could see the tears starting to fall from her eyes as she described their daughter. He was getting an image in his mind of this beautiful child who loved music. He smiled sadly as he pictured the little one that he never got to meet.

"I remember this one night I came home and she was sitting in the living room, watching television. I walked into the living and just stood there, watching her. Her eyes were completely focused on the TV that she didn't hear me come in. Then she jumped up and started to sing along with the TV. She would twirl in circles all around and sing along, when she forgot the words she would just sing 'lalalalala'. It was the cutest thing." Krisalyn said as she started to choke on her tears.

"She sounded like a wonderful little girl." Nick whispered, focusing on the sheet on the hospital bed.

"She was. She was the sweetest thing. I took her trick-or-treating on her last Halloween. After she would get the candy she looked at me and wouldn't leave the doorway. I couldn't figure it out and asked her what was wrong, you know what she said to me?" Krisalyn asked a smile starting to form at the memory.

"What?" Nick asked his head snapping up.

"'You have to pay the lady mommy, it's wrong to steal.'" Krisalyn said as she laughed a little. "I had to carry around a bunch of pennies so that she could hand them to the people after they gave her candy."

Nick smiled at the picture she was painting. He could just see a little girl handing a penny to a person for giving her candy. "Sounds like you were raising her right."

"I like to think so." Krisalyn said shaking her head.

"I know so." Nick said smiling at her.

* * *

_Flashback_

_"Do you realize that my boss is going to freak at me being so late?" Krisalyn asked with a groan._

_"Well it's not my fault you didn't set the alarm." Nick said as he quickly buckled his belt._

_"Yes it is, you were distracting me." Krisalyn accused with a smile._

_"I didn't hear you complaining." Nick said with a laugh. _

_"Well I'm complaining now." Krisalyn teased as she slipped on her watch. _

_"Too late. I am going to head back to my hotel room and shower and change. I'll see you at your lab?" Nick asked as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead._

_"I think that's where I'm going. Unless I stop and meet a really cute guy along the way." Krisalyn teased again as she threw her hair into a ponytail. _

_"You know, I think I might be falling for you." Nick said seriously._

_"You don't even know me." Krisalyn said stopping in her tracks._

_"I know enough." Nick said with a shrug. "See you later."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

The more she thought about the more it seemed destined that her and Nick were supposed to find each other again. Maybe the reason Ella fell in love with those tigers and the reason Krisalyn decided to bury her here was because someone else wanted her here with him. Krisalyn quickly shook the thought and the memory away as she looked over at the table beside her hospital bed. When Sara had gone to her apartment and gotten her some things she had also brought a picture of Ella at her last birthday. Krisalyn smiled as she motioned towards the picture.

"She stuck her whole face in the cake that day. Her hair was completely covered with chocolate cake." Krisalyn said shaking her head. "I miss having a bunch of kids running around on a sugar high believe it or not."

"Maybe one day you'll have that again." Nick whispered softly and seriously.

"Maybe one day you'll get to experience it first hand." Krisalyn said also serious.

"Maybe we'll experience it together." Nick said leaning towards her.

* * *

Captain Brass walked in the room at the particular moment and cleared his throat, causing Nick to jump back and stare at him.

"Sorry to interrupt but I wanted to personally check on things here." He said with a knowing smile.

"Everything's fine thanks." Krisalyn said quickly with a blush creeping up her face. Had Nick just about kissed her a few moments ago?

"I can see that." Brass said as he turned to leave.

"Um..Brass could you not tell anyone about this?" Nick asked him suddenly.

* * *

Krisalyn heard those words and felt crushed. Nick had only been caught up in the moment and he was embarrassed about what he had almost done. He wasn't interested in her, it was only about what they were talking about. She looked down at the blanket covering her and started playing with an end of it.

"Is he shift almost done?" Krisalyn asked suddenly.

Brass looked at them both confused and glanced at his watch. He then looked at Krisalyn first. "No his shift isn't almost done and yes I'll keep this to myself."

* * *

Nick looked over at Krisalyn and frowned. They had really been talking and now it seemed she just wanted to get rid of him, what had changed? 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nick waited until Brass left before he glanced at Krisalyn again and just stared at her. He could tell she was uncomfortable with him now and he wasn't sure why. He had seriously thought they were making a connection. He sighed as he leaned back in the chair that he was sitting in and continued to stare at her. He knew eventually it would annoy her enough that she would look at him, even if it was only to yell at him.

"Stop staring." She whispered without even glancing his way.

"Why are you so anxious to get rid of me?" Nick asked seriously.

"Why are you sp upset over being caught like that with me?" Krisalyn shot back finally glancing at him. "I get it, you got caught up in the moment and you aren't attracted to me anymore, I just think it's best if you leave then."

Nick just stared at her, unsure of what to say. What in the world would have made her think he wasn't attracted to her?

* * *

J.J. walked through the halls of the hospital and came to a stop in front of Krisalyn's room. She had a feeling that Nick was the one inside with her at the moment. She felt her anger rise as she pushed her way inside the room and smirked at the two people sitting there talking to each other without even noticing she was there. She cleared her throat and saw the shocked expression that crossed Nick's face.

"Nick, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" J.J. asked sweetly.

"No." Nick said simply, shaking his head.

"Please honey." She tried again.

"First off, I am not your honey and secondly I am working right now. My job is to protect Krisalyn from this psycho and my orders from my supervisor are to stay put in this room with her." Nick said throwing an icy stare towards J.J.

"First off you are my honey and secondly don't you dare talk to me like that again. I don't know why you would even bother with this woman. She won't be here much longer anyway. Don't you know that the deal with my transfer was that one of the lab people would be transferred back there and you are looking at my New York replacement." J.J. threw at them both with a smirk.

"Over my dead body." Krisalyn said with a furious look. "I have a contract little miss stupid that says I can't be transferred at all."

"What?" J.J. asked clearly taken aback.

* * *

Nick stared at Krisalyn with wide eyes. He had never heard her act as furious as she sounded at that very moment. He could tell that she hadn't meant for any of that to come out at that moment but he was kind of glad it had. He knew that there was a chance of a contract since Ella was buried here, she wouldn't want to leave her daughters grave behind.

"I said I have a contract. I can't be transferred unless I request it and you can bet I won't be requesting it." Krisalyn said slowly. "What part of that didn't get through that small brain of yours?"

"You have no right…" J.J. started as she started towards the bed.

Nick jumped up and walked around the bed until he was standing in between Krisalyn and J.J. He stood there and watched as J.J. studied him and frowned even more when she realized she wasn't getting past him.

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" She asked softly.

"WE haven't been. I don't even want him." Krisalyn lied about the last part, her pride still hurting over his request earlier.

"Well sweetheart I know that you only want to reassure J.J. but lying about not wanting me is a little to far." Nick drawled turning towards her, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Someone has an ego. Maybe I really don't want you." Krisalyn said starting to get even more annoyed.

"And maybe just moments ago we were about to kiss." Nick said leaning towards her. "And maybe I want to finish that."

"Maybe I don't." Krisalyn said her eyes going wide. Moments ago he had asked Brass to keep quiet and now he was going to kiss her in front of another investigator. She figured it out in no time, as long as the display worked to his advantage he would be okay with displaying affection. She started to feel her anger build as she raised her hand, getting ready to slap him.

* * *

Nick already knew what she was going to do and smiled at her. He grabbed her hand gently and held it on the bed. He could tell that move had shocked her and he heard someone else enter the room. He glanced over his shoulders and saw Grissom walk in and frown at them .Figuring this was the time to show her he was serious and turned back to face her and kissed her hard.

* * *

Krisalyn felt her eyes widen as Nick kissed her roughly. She was to shocked to do much of anything but sit there in her hospital bed until he pulled away. She didn't know what to say about what had just happened but when she saw Grissom and the look on her face she had a feeling that he had seen everything. She gulped and bit her bottom lip nervously. She wasn't sure how her supervisor was going to react to the display of affection he had just been a witness to.

"Grissom I can probably explain this." Krisalyn said hastily.

"Somehow I doubt that." Grissom said with a smile on his face. "So it's about time you two realized you had feelings for each other."

"Excuse me?" J.J. asked stepping in. "Nick and I are going to be together."

"Nope." Nick said shaking his head. "I don't think so."

"What is so special about her?" J.J. asked pointing to Krisalyn who was still in super shock mode.

"I love her." Nick whispered softly, shocking everyone in the room, especially himself.

* * *

Krisalyn felt her jaw drop as she heard those three works escape Nick's mouth. She gulped as she tried to think of how she was supposed to respond to that but couldn't. Suddenly Nick left the room very quickly and Krisalyn wasn't given a chance to respond. She looked over and saw Grissom studying her intensely, almost as if he could read her mind.

"I didn't know." Krisalyn said lamely.

"I can tell." Grissom said nodding his head.

* * *

J.J. left the hospital with anger feeling up every inch of her. She felt her chest tighten as she replayed the words that had been uttered from CSI Stokes mouth. How in the world could he love Krisalyn and not her? She had a feeling she had known all along that there was no chance for the two of them but something inside her head told her that she would have to fight for him. She clenched her fists as she made her way back to her car and tried to think of a plan of action. Maybe if this serial killer succeeded in killing off Krisalyn she might have a real shot at Nick Stokes. Just maybe she might actually get something she felt like she deserved.

* * *

Nick felt the humiliation throughout the core of his body as he sat in the cafeteria of the hospital. He let his head fall to rest on his right arm and groaned inwardly. How could he have been so stupid as to utter those words out loud? Why didn't he control what came out of his mouth? He heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see Warrick and Greg standing there staring at him. He gave them a forced smile and sat up completely straight.

"We went by the room to talk to you but Grissom said you ran out of there pretty quickly." Warrick explained as they slid into the booth across from him.

"Yeah well I said something pretty stupid. I'm pretty sure that I screwed everything up." Nick said with a sigh. "Warrick, do you remember when we came back to Vegas after I met Krisalyn for the first time?"

"Yeah, you were so long gone it wasn't even funny anymore. You almost screwed up three different cases until Grissom and Eickly both jumped in and chewed you out." Warrick said nodding his head.

"I think it was because I knew she was the one for me." Nick said softly. "I know it now."

"Well then why are you down here and not up there fighting for her?" Greg asked his friend confused.

"Why did you just give up on Sara?" Nick asked pointedly.

"Because she and Grissom love each other, therefore I had no shot. Krisalyn loves you man, and no one else." Greg pointed out with a sigh of his own. "Besides I am kinda happy with that new patrol cop, she is something else." Greg said with a knowing smirk.

"She must be pretty brain dead to be with a guy like you." Warrick teased.

"Haha that is so funny." Greg muttered annoyed.

"Uh guys, can we kind of get back to me now?" Nick asked looking between his two friends. "I don't want to scare her off. She has been injured a few times and she is suffering from a head injury right now. Anything I say or do might tick her off."

"Maybe right now is the best time to make your move. Her defenses are down and her standards are low." Greg teased and then laughed at his own joke.

"Thanks Greg, that's what I wanted to hear." Nick said dryly.

* * *

He was happy with the results of his latest kill. This one was personal and about revenge. It originally had nothing to do with his plan but he could improvise. He smirked as he realized how much mayhem and panic this one was going to cause. Because for the first time he was going to leave her in a very public and very weird place. He was going to leave her body on an elementary school playground just to be completely and totally evil. He laughed at his own wittiness and made sure that he left nothing behind that wasn't supposed to be left there. He would only give them enough to work with that was it.

* * *

Krisalyn looked up when she heard the door open and almost breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it wasn't Nick. She smiled when she saw Sara and Katherine standing there and looked over to see Grissom getting to his feet. She watched as he walked out of the room with a slight nod at the women and she couldn't help but feel like someone had called them to talk to her about Nick. She was the new team member in the equation which meant their loyalty would be completely for him. She almost wished she had never transferred out here, that she had her old team and friends back so she wouldn't feel so alone.

"He loves you, didn't I tell you that." Katherine said with a knowing smile.

"Yes you did and so did he." Krisalyn said with a pout.

"Did you say it back? You know that you want to." Sara teased as she sat in a chair across from her.

"No I didn't say it back. He kissed me." She blurted suddenly.

"He kissed you?" The two of them repeated in unison.

"Did you kiss him back?" Sara asked leaning forward in the chair.

"No, I couldn't believe he did that. Honestly I was in to much shock to know what to do or how to react. The same with when he said that he loved me. I thought maybe he was kissing me and saying that because he wanted J.J, off his back and she was standing right there but the look on his face as he realized what had popped out of his mouth was enough to convince me it was the truth." Krisalyn said with a sigh.

"What are you going to do about it?" Katherine asked pointedly.

* * *

"So what are you going to do about it?" Warrick asked his friend with an arched brow. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The little boy walked onto the playground at school. He was early for his classes but he didn't want to be at home at the moment. His parents were fighting again, so he was at the school. He always liked to come early so he could sit on the swings and watch the other parents drop their kids off. He wished his family could be like that. He sighed as he kept his eyes focused on his favorite swing and didn't see the bulky item lying on the ground. He tripped and fell over something and smacked face first into the ground. Lucky for him it wasn't too hard and he managed to scramble away from the item.

"Ouch, that hurt." He whispered feeling the tears well in his eyes.

He glanced over and screamed loudly. He could hear feet rushing towards him as he screamed as loud as he could. He was staring into the cold dead eyes of a woman who had been murdered.

* * *

He laughed as he saw the commotion. The teachers were desperately trying to control the screaming child who was terrified. He loved watching the chaos and confusion that he caused. Leaving a dead body on the playground of an elementary school would definitely make him the center of attention. It was the attention he liked but the smell of death that he loved. He grinned as he watched a young woman bend and pick up the fearful child and carry him screaming away. Now things would get better.

* * *

Nick was half-asleep beside Krisalyn's bed when he felt his pager vibrate. He groaned as he woke up and checked the pager to see that it was Grissom. He frowned, coming fully awake at that point. The only reason Grissom would be paging him away from Krisalyn at the moment was if their serial killer had killed again. He quietly pushed the chair back and got to his feet. He walked silently out the door and smiled when he saw a CSI from day shift walking towards him. He nodded his head hello in acknowledgment and then left the hospital. He pulled out his cell phone and called Grissom for an address.

* * *

Krisalyn woke up and noticed the female CSI sitting next to her bed. She frowned when she noticed it was the day-shift ballistics expert. She knew this woman was good friends with J.J., in fact the two of them were actually going to be roommates.

"Where's Nick?" She asked seriously.

"He had a case come up. Your serial killed again." The woman said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Krisalyn could feel her anger rising. She wanted to be back in the field, finding evidence. She grabbed the controls and flipped the television on. She waited patiently until she had flipped to the channel she wanted and set the controls aside. She could already tell by the look on the woman's face that this station was annoying her, that's why she had chosen it.

* * *

Nick arrived at the scene where Sara and Greg were already processing. He frowned as Grissom's earlier warning about Nick and Krisalyn needing to be the only CSI's working this case.

"What are you two doing here?" Nick asked walking carefully up to them.

"Processing. Relax, we know the rules, it's your case." Greg said thinking this was about Nick being possessive.

"You do realize if anyone works the case other than who he wants on it, he kills them right?" Nick warned with an arched brow.

"Is that a proven fact?" Sara asked straightening from her position.

"Yes." Nick nodded slowly.

"Well then I guess we are just going to have to watch our backs a little better." Greg said with a shrug.

* * *

He watched the two CSI's he didn't want there with an angry scowl. He had known this would be the scene that Stokes would arrive without anyone, it should have been. Well if these two wanted to play Russian Roulette with their own lives that was fine with him. He was going to make everyone who disobeyed him pay dearly. He watched the two work fast and efficiently and had to laugh. Stokes had probably warned him of his tendency to kill crime scene investigators that shouldn't be working his scenes and did. He had a new plan already forming in his mind and he couldn't wait to act on it. HE straightened as a new thought also entered his mind, Krisalyn didn't have her most attentive bodyguard with her. She might have a bodyguard but not the one who would do anything for her. He laughed as he silently started jogging away from the crowd and towards a side street where he had hidden his car. It was time to finally get things rolling the way they should have been.

* * *

Krisalyn had a bad feeling, one that just wouldn't go away. It was squeezing her chest and making her wince in pain. She glanced over and saw the annoyed look was still present on her bodyguards face. Sighing she had a decision and called for the nurse.

"Yes?" The nurse asked when she entered the room.

"I would like to see my doctor. I think I am going to sign out AMA." Krisalyn said simply. She knew it wasn't the wisest decision, especially since there was a huge chance her insurance wouldn't cover her stay here if she signed out AMA but she had to do it. Something in this hospital was off and she could feel it.

* * *

He snuck in and noticed the rushing of bodies as everyone went their own way. He had to laugh as no one noticed him enter the first patient room. This was going to be the best one yet. He had managed to keep his attention diverted and he knew where all the cameras were already so they would never get his face. He silently approached the sleeping young woman and pulled out the syringe he had managed to steal. This was going to be an easy distraction kill. He pushed the needle into the proper part of the IV bag and injected the medication to enter through her own IV. He pocketed the syringe and then silently left the room to wait.

* * *

Krisalyn heard the commotion as alarms started ringing and people were running. "We're too late." She murmured to herself. She knew he was here and he was going to be coming for her next.

* * *

He watched the commotion from his vantage point and laughed softly to himself. He had to admit that he was good at what he did. This moron's had no clue that he was standing just a few feet away from all of them, waiting for the opportunity to strike again. He watched as a doctor that he recognized materialized out of nowhere. He sucked in a breath and averted his eyes. That was impossible! That doctor couldn't possibly be here! He felt his rage growing as he turned his back to the commotion and started towards the elevator base. He wasn't going after Krisalyn with that man here today.

* * *

Nick studied the battered body lying before him on the ground and sucked in deep breaths. This woman had been tortured, that much was clear. He snapped some photo's and looked around him, trying to get inside this guy's head. "Why did he dump you here?" Nick whispered to the lifeless woman lying in front of him. "Why in a playground?"

"Uh, Nick are you almost done here?" Came the voice from behind him.

"Yeah, go ahead and take here." Nick said nodding when he realized he was finished.

* * *

He was sitting alone in his apartment, staring at the pictures on the walls. There were so many pictures, way to many to count. They were all his victims, they were all the dead bodies of the people who annoyed him. He grinned as he looked at the scrapbook that contained every newspaper clipping written about him, most printed off the internet. He had to laugh at the names they were giving him, no one was even close. Soon the FBI would jump onboard, prepared to take over and he would have to let them know, once again, that he would kill more and hurt more people if they didn't keep out of it. He already knew the drill and he was sure everyone else knew it as well.

* * *

Nick sat in one of the conference rooms looking through the pictures he had taken when he heard Warrick come in. He looked up, "run this with me?" He asked him simply.

"Yeah sure why not." Warrick said with a shrug.

"All right, female vic, comes home from work and does her thing at home." Nick said starting things off.

"Suspect is watching from outside, waiting for the moment to strike." Warrick picks up.

"Victim turns in for the night, there are no lights on, there is no one else home." Nick continued with his eyes glancing through every photo.

"Suspect waits a little while, then sneaks into the house." Warrick said thinking.

Nick looks down at the pictures, trying to decide whether or not she dies in her own bed. Shaking his head he decides she doesn't, not the way she was tortured. "He makes sure she stays out cold, probably gives her something or hits her over the head. Then he carries her out to his vehicle for transport."

"He takes her somewhere where he tortures her and then kills her." Warrick said after glancing at the photo's spread out on the table.

"When she's dead he wraps her body in something and transports her to the playground and dumps her." Nick finished.

"Elementary school playground, that's just low and sick." Warrick said shaking his head.

"Yeah well I don't think this guy cares what we think." Nick said with a shake of his head. "What this woman must have gone through."

"We won't know until the ME comes back." Warrick said slowly, already forming a picture in his mind.

"Yeah well I do know one thing, this girl didn't have an easy death. If I can say one thing, it's that she suffered throughout this whole thing." Nick said with a sigh.

* * *

Krisalyn had had enough of the day shift CSI who wouldn't leave her alone. It seemed like the girl had nothing but horrible things to say about her and she wanted to deck her. She smiled when she saw Sara at the door and was relieved to see her hand orders to the CSI sitting next to her.

"Well looks like I'm outta here." The woman said grabbing her things and leaving.

"Thank goodness you got here when you did, I was ready to choke her or worse." Krisalyn admitted slowly.

Sara laughed and took the vacated seat next to Krisalyn. "Yeah I could see that look on your face when I walked into the room. It was actually kind of funny."

"No it wasn't." Krisalyn grumbled and leaned back into her pillows.

"Yeah it really was." Sara said with a smile. She held up the bag that was in her hands and Krisalyn felt her mouth water. She smiled and put the bag on the tray that was in front of the bed.

"You must have spent some time in this hospital yourself." Krisalyn chuckled.

"No but I have been in a hospital. By the way Katharine went over to Nick's earlier today to get the room ready. Grissom talked to the doctor and managed to convince him you would be safe out of this place." Sara informed her with a smile.

"Thank goodness." Krisalyn sighed with relief. Then she frowned as the first part finally sunk in. "I really don't want to stay at Nick's place."

"Why not?" Sara asked as she stopped spreading out salads with some French fries, she was after all a vegetarian.

Krisalyn eyed the French fries with much more hunger than she was eyeing the salads. She sighed with pleasure as she picked up a salty fry. "I just don't want to stay with him." She said softly.

* * *

He typed away on the computer, trying to find a random victim. He was getting frustrated and angry, his plan not working the way it should. Someone was going to pay for the way things were going and someone was going to pay dearly. 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Krisalyn stared at Nick who was standing in the doorway of her hospital room. She could tell that he had been told she didn't want to stay at his place. She saw the dark look that crossed his face as he noticed her all packed and ready to leave. She gulped when she watched him enter the room and pick up her bag and nod at Sara.

"You're staying with me Kris, so you might as well drop it." Nick warned in an undertone that sent chills down Krisalyn's spine.

"You can't tell me what to do." Krisalyn said and then shrank back at the look he sent her.

"Give it up. I don't know what why you think staying with me is going to be so bad but you need to get over it." Nick said sighing.

"Whatever." Krisalyn muttered. "I see that everyone is on his side." She said curtly to Sara who was just grinning.

* * *

He watched as the people around him read through the newspaper headlines. He could see the panic already forming on their faces, the panic he had seen so many times. He felt like shouting that he was the cause of all of this but kept it to himself. He glanced down at the file he was carrying and nodded at the people who knew him. If the people he saw on a daily basis only knew what he was capable of. He knew they would be shocked and horrified to learn one of their closest friends was a serial killer.

* * *

Grissom looked up from the book he was studying. He saw Kathryn standing in the doorway staring at him with a look of concern. He nodded his head and watched her walk all the way into his office and shut the door.

"What's up?" He asked marking his place and setting the book aside.

"I was just thinking that there is something we aren't considering." Kathryn said sitting in the chair opposite Grissom's desk.

"What?" Grissom asked confused and intrigued all the same.

"What if there is a reason he is targeting certain CSI's over others. Did we ever consider that there might be a connection between those he targeted and the killer himself?" Kathryn asked with a sigh.

"We looked into that. There are no common factors other than them being CSI's." Grissom said shaking his head.

"So there is not one small detail that we may have overlooked that could lead us to this guy?" Kathryn asked starting to lose hope.

"We may have missed something, why don't you look into it?" Grissom asked considering it silently.

Kathryn merely nodded before getting up. She turned slowly as if just remembering something she wanted to tell Grissom. "Krisalyn checked out of the hospital today. Sara called Nick to let him know what was going on, Nick rushed over and took her home."

"Was she trying to go to her own house or something?" Grissom asked confused.

"Either her own place or Sara's. Anywhere but Nick's was what Sara said." Kathryn said with a grin. "Those two are going to be married before long. They have too much chemistry. But until it happens it's going to be fun to watch them go at each other."

"Agreed." Grissom said simply as he picked up his book again.

* * *

He was going to wait a while before killing another one. To many to soon might make him a little sloppy, so it was time to wait. He would let them think there was a possibility he had already moved on to a different area, that once again this city would be safe from him, the home wrecker. That was what they were calling him all around, because all of his victims had families and homes.

* * *

Krisalyn sat pouting on the couch in the living room of Nick's place. She was really upset about being stuck with him. She sighed as she let curiosity take over and got up to look around. She had to admit that although it was clearly a bachelor residence it had a bit of charm. She smirked as she thought of a way to get even with Nick and move some things around in the house to suit her own tastes. He could always move them back when she went back to her apartment.

* * *

Warrick looked at the photographs again and looked up at Nick who was trying to put together a new scenario. They had identified the victim as the nurse who had probably saved Krisalyn's life and had since found out where she lived. There was evidence there that something bad had happened inside her home, which didn't fit with their earlier theory that she was only kidnapped and from home.

"The more I study these pictures the less I know." Nick admitted throwing them aside, frustrated with where things were going. "They don't match up with his earlier killings."

"So what are you saying?" Warrick asked.

"I don't think he planned to kill her. I think that he lost his mind when she stopped him from killing Kris, and so he went bonkers and killed her for revenge." Nick said on a sigh. "I think this is the one scene we would be able to get evidence from."

"So if we knew exactly where she was killed we might get something?" Warrick asked looking down at the pictures again.

"Not just that, from her home as well. I think that he was full of rage when he made the abduction which means he wouldn't be as careful as he was with the other kidnappings." Nick said thoughtfully.

* * *

Krisalyn smirked when she saw her handy work of Nick's home. She looked around and then shook her head as she leaned down to straighten one of the couch cushions. She frowned when she realized there was something blocking it from going straight and she pulled it straight off to see what it was. She reached down and took out the photo album that was hidden there and frowned. Who hides photo album's in their couches? She put the cushion back into place and sat down on top of it, flipping the cover of the album open. Her eyes widen when she saw pictures of Nick and people who looked just like him, people she assumed were his family. He had never really talked to her about his family so looking through these pictures she was a little surprised to see what type of family he had.

* * *

The man was tired of the constant killing at the moment. He was sick of always having to watch his every move. He decided a break from his normal routine was in order, just this once. Maybe with a small break from the killing he could actually torture Krisalyn and Nick. Maybe then he could make them see him for who he really was. He laughed as he realized he liked his plan more and more. He was ready for whatever life tossed his way and just this once he was ready to play games with the heads of the CSI members.

* * *

Krisalyn woke up in cold sweat as the nightmare raged once again. She hadn't had the nightmare in a while and it bothered her that it had returned. She held her hand on her chest as she struggled to even out her breathing so that everything would be all right again. She felt her face and realized how hot it was and frowned.

"Damn." She muttered to herself as she climbed out of bed. She pulled on the robe she had tossed on the end and walked into the kitchen for something cold to drink. She looked over and noticed that Nick had fallen asleep on the couch. She smiled to herself as she walked over to the couch and reached over to pull a blanket over him. She brushed some hair of his forehead and leaned down to gently kiss it. "Goodnight." She whispered as she walked away from the couch.

Nick woke up the next morning with a crick in his neck. "Ouch." He muttered as he tried to roll his neck from side to side only to feel intense pain.

"You okay?" Krisalyn asked from sitting on the stool next to the counter.

"Yeah, why didn't you wake me up?" Nick asked turning his whole body so he could see her and wouldn't have to move his neck.

"Am I your keeper now?" Krisalyn asked sarcastically.

"No but it would have been nice to sleep in my own bed." Nick muttered.

"Then maybe next time you'll go to bed when you get tired." Krisalyn said as she got up and walked towards the hallway. She turned as she hit the doorway and looked at him closely before shaking her head. "You know what's sad? You actually look kind of sweet when you're asleep."

"You watched me sleep?" Nick asked cocking an eyebrow at her.

"No I didn't watch you sleep, I just saw you asleep." Krisalyn said uncomfortably.

"Uh huh." Nick said smirking as he got to his feet. "You can admit it anytime now, you have the hots for me."

"No I do not have the hots for you." Krisalyn denied starting to get uncomfortable as Nick headed towards her.

"Uh huh." Nick said smirking some more.

* * *

He was getting bored as he threw darts at the pictures on the wall. Something had to change and something had to change soon. There had to be someone out there he could use to torture the stupid crime scene investigators. He sighed as he threw the last dart in his hand and watched it smack straight into the forehead of CSI Nick Stokes.

"Bulls eye." He muttered as he leaned back into his couch and stared at the phot's adorning his wall. He bit his bottom lip as an idea started to form inside his head and it just wouldn't go away.

* * *

Krisalyn leaned against the shower wall shaking her head at what had just happened between her and Nick and what had almost happened. They had gotten carried away with the kissing but luckily Nick's pager had gone off and he had to leave or who knows what would have happened. She groaned as she turned off the water and stepped out. Wrapping a towel around her she headed towards the room she was staying in only to stop halfway there. Something was off and really wrong. She turned around and looked behind her but didn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Shaking it off she walked into the room and straight to the bed where her clothes were laid out. After getting dressed and running a brush through her wet hair she walked out to the living room and sucked in a deep breath.

"Oh my god." She whispered as she let her hand fly to her chest.

* * *

Grissom shook his head as he stared at the crime scene photos for the millionth time. No matter how many times he went over them he couldn't seem to grasp what was going on in them.

"Why can't I see the crime? Why can't I get into his head?" Grissom asked himself again as he looked at the photo's that had just arrived of the first few scenes.

"Talking to yourself is never a good sign." Sara said walking into the office with a smile.

"Something is off here Sara." Grissom said not bothering to look up.

"You know if I were anyone else I would be offended that you didn't even bother to look up at me." Sara said simply as she sat down in a chair opposite the desk.

"He's up to something and I don't know what it is." Grissom said frustrated.

Nick was rubbing his temples when he felt some hands start to massage his shoulders. Knowing that Krisalyn was at home he shrugged off the hands and turned to find JJ standing there with a frown on her face.

"You look like you had a rough night. I could make it better." She whispered.

"No thanks, my girls waiting for me," Nick said purposely getting on her nerves as he got up and walked away from the area. He chuckled to himself as he felt her shooting daggers with her eyes at him. "Kris will get a kick out of this."

* * *

Krisalyn could feel the air leave her lungs as she felt a panic attack coming on. She stared at the images all around her and felt her mind go completely blank before she collapsed. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Nick arrived home at lunchtime; he had every intention of talking to Krisalyn about what had almost happened between them this morning. He sighed as he opened the front door and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked all around the room and noticed the pictures of Ella and the red marks all over them. He then noticed the red paint all over the walls proclaiming that they were all dead and it was all his and Krisalyn's fault. He looked at the ground and saw Krisalyn lying there with her eyes closed, clearly unconscious.

"Kris!" Nick yelled as he ran over to her and knelt down next to her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Krisalyn could feel someone's hands on her and she could hear someone talking to her but she didn't care. All that mattered was that those pictures of how violated her daughter had been, were plastered everywhere. Someone had gotten a hold of the buried crime scene photographs, photographs that Krisalyn herself had made disappear after the trial. Slowly she made her eyes pop open and she stared into Nick's worried eyes.

"I'm okay. I don't want to see the pictures. Make them go away, please?" She pleaded with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't see her like that."

"It's okay, just close your eyes and I'm gonna take you out to my car." Nick said softly as he stroked her hair.

"Okay."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick carried her out to the car and placed her gently into the front seat. He pulled out his cell phone and called Grissom's direct line, hoping that for once he was actually sitting tightly at his desk instead of looking around for something to do. He sighed with relief when the phone was answered.

"Hello?"

"Grissom, it's Nick." Nick said tightly into the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" Grissom asked immediately.

"I came home to check on Krisalyn and there's a fresh crime scene at my house. Trust me you guys are going to want to get out here, I can't go in there." Nick whispered.

"All right, anyone hurt? Do we need the medical examiner or an ambulance?" Grissom asked sharply.

"No, just the unit." Nick responded fast.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grissom quickly walked out of his office and looked for the others. He found them in the break room and gave them all a look over. He saw when they realized that something had happened and could sense the worry on their faces, but JJ was in the room and Grissom knew Nick wasn't going to want her at his house. Sighing Grissom plastered a fake smile on his face and nodded to everyone as he walked over to the fridge.

"What's going on in here?" He asked simply.

"Just waiting for something to do." JJ answered for all of them. "Is there a crime scene?" She asked excitedly.

"Nope." Grissom lied as he grabbed an apple out of the fridge and then headed back to his office.

Once he was seated at his desk Grissom paged everyone one by one with a secret message and then sat back at his desk. He knew they would immediately put their messages together and come up with the final message to meet at Nick's. Grissom grabbed his kit and headed out of the building. He only hoped the other's would be able to keep this a secret from JJ because otherwise there was going to be trouble at the scene.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Krisalyn watched as Nick stared at his house with a frown on his face. She wanted so badly to go over to him and make him feel a little better but she knew that she couldn't get up out of the seat. She felt so drained and weak at the moment that she couldn't even manage to say anything to make him feel better, she could barely manage the sigh that she heard escaping her lips. She watched as Nick turned his attention towards her.

"Wanna talk?" Nick asked her simply.

Krisalyn just shook her head as she watched him intently. She could see that there was something he wanted to ask her but that he was to afraid to speak the words. She had a feeling she knew exactly what it was. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she waited for him to get up the courage to ask her anyway.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grissom arrived at Nick's house and saw him standing there in the driveway next to his car. He could see that Nick was visibly shaken up and Grissom couldn't blame him. He climbed out of his car and made his way towards his friend and teammate. Once Grissom was next to him he placed his hand on his shoulder and just stood there for a few minutes. There was no telling how long they actually stood there but they were still standing like that when Sara arrived with Greg in her car. They both hopped out with their cases and gave a slight wink to Grissom as a secret signal that they had figured out what he was up to earlier.

"Don't worry we made sure she didn't know where we were headed." Greg said as he held his kit in his hands.

"Been inside yet?" Sara asked Grissom as she nodded towards the house.

"Negative." Grissom said shaking his head. "I figured I would wait for the whole team to get here."

"Good idea. Especially since I didn't clear the house." Nick added honestly.

"All right so we wait and then we leave out kits out here and go in guns drawn. We clear the house and then come back out here and grab what we need to work the scene." Grissom said coming up with a plan of action.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Sara said nodding her head.

"Agreed." Greg said as he turned when a car screeched to a halt behind them. He noticed Kathryn and Warrick climbing out and motioned for them to hurry it up.

"We need to clear the house first." Grissom informed the latest arrivals.

"Sweet, time to draw the weapon." Warrick said as he drew his gun.

"I'll stay out here with them." Kathryn said as she noticed how pale and ashen Krisalyn had become. Something was off and Kathryn had a feeling Krisalyn knew something that might be relevant to their new case. It was just about bringing it out of her mouth to make it work.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was laughing inside as he watched the scene from his vantage point. He had planned everything down to a T, everything that he was going to do but someone else had done some damage it seemed. They would automatically think this was his handy work but they would soon figure out it wasn't. No one was as good as he was, no one was as precise as he was and therefore no one would be able to copy what he did right down to the letter. The person behind this had probably gotten sloppy and they would find some evidence somewhere.

He looked down at the photographs that he had managed to get a hold of and he realized something about them bothered him. He frowned and then looked closer, that's when he realized they were crime scene photos but they weren't taken by the cops. Someone, mainly the perp, had taken these pictures. He felt his heart skip a beat as he realized that meant the person who was arrested for Ella's murder had been innocent. The real killer was out there and he was in contact with him. He laughed a little and then decided that he better keep quiet and not say anything to anyone. He also knew he couldn't start his car and leave because that would draw attention to himself so he sat back and enjoyed the show.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Krisalyn had this weird feeling that someone was watching them. She slowly pulled her tired and drained body out of the car and scanned the area but nothing seemed to jump out at her. She was starting to think she was losing her mind when she felt Kathryn's hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little and then looked at the woman who had become a good friend to her.

"Something wrong Krisalyn?" Kathryn asked worriedly.

"No, I just think my imagination is playing tricks on me is all." Krisalyn answered with a slight laugh. "All right I have a feeling there is something both you and Nick are dying to ask me so just ask me."

"What are you hiding?" Nick was the first one out with it.

"I think the man that killed Ella is innocent." Krisalyn said slowly and honestly. "There were some things that he would say that just didn't add up to what happened at the crime scene is all."

"What do you mean? If you thought he was innocent and there were discrepancies why was he convicted?" Kathryn asked confused.

"Because they thought I was just a distraught mother and they wouldn't listen to me. You have to remember I am only the victim's mother on this case." Krisalyn said slowly.

Grissom, Greg, Warrick and Sara finished clearing the house and came out to get their kits. They all noticed that there was something serious being talked about between the three CSI's standing off to the side. Grissom frowned and was ready to head over there when he noticed another car coming up the street. He nearly groaned aloud when he saw JJ climb out of the car and head towards the team.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked her before anyone else got the chance.

"I am a member of this team and if there is a crime scene then I deserve to be involved." She huffed crossing her arms in front of her.

"Who said there was a crime scene here?" Greg asked arching his eyebrow.

"What are you all doing here if there is no scene?" JJ retorted.

"Checking up on a friend of ours who has recently been in the hospital and comparing what's in our kits to see what tools the other kits might need." Sara said remembering they all had their kits out so she needed an excuse for that to.

"Well why wasn't I invited?" She asked sweetly.

"Because you're not my friend." Krisalyn answered back just as sweetly.

"Well we could be friends." JJ said pouting.

"No we can't be." Krisalyn said shaking her head. "But I'm sure you and Nick could be."

"What? Me and her friends? Never gonna happen." Nick said shaking his head quickly.

"That's right because we are going to be more than friends." JJ said with a small pout.

"Never that either." Nick said with a major attitude. "I don't even like you so I could never be with you."

"Well we can change that can't we?" JJ asked walking towards him.

"Not when he is engaged to be married to Krisalyn." Warrick jumped in thinking on his feet.

Krisalyn let her eyes dart from Nick to Warrick and could tell they had planned this whole thing out. She wasn't sure how they did it but she knew they did it. She felt her blood start to boil and her temper start to rise and the only thing she could think about was getting even with them. She was about to speak up and say she wasn't planning to marry Nick ever when Kathryn started to speak up.

"Speaking of which, I was thinking that maybe we should go dress shopping tomorrow when you are feeling a little bit better. I know this beautiful little dress shop that always has gorgeous wedding gowns on display." Kathryn said getting into the scheme. She smirked at Krisalyn knowing that she was going to be shocked.

"What about that place that has dresses for all occasions? We should all get dresses for the engagement party!" Sara said pretending to get excited.

Krisalyn was speechless as she listened to everyone get involved around her. She had feeling that she had just been manipulated by the entire team and the fact that everyone had forgotten about the crime scene inside was apparent. Man was she in for a long hard ride from this point on.


	15. Chapter 15

A/n: I know that I spelled Kathryn's name wrong. I figured that out about one or two chapters into the story, but I figure this way we know it's a fictional drama so they can't try and say I stole that character… LOL. Besides I like the way it looks with a K.

* * *

Chapter 15

Krisalyn was pouting as she rode in the car with Kathryn and Sara. They were both determined to continue this charade with JJ at work. Krisalyn had already been to three different dress shops and she had refused to even look at a wedding dress in the last one. She didn't see a purpose in this stupid expedition considering she and Nick were not actually getting married. She could think of better things to spend her money on then a wedding dress she was not going to use.

"You know you could at least attempt to look happy about your pending nuptials." Sara said with a giggle.

"I am not getting married." Krisalyn said forcefully.

"Actually we think you are." Kathryn said with a sigh. "Look Krisalyn, we know we can't force you to walk down the aisle with a man you don't love but something tells us you are only pretending not to want to marry him. You really do love him and you want to be with him."

"What makes you so sure?" Krisalyn asked after a moment of silence.

"Oh just the fact that your face lights up every time he enters the room, your eyes narrow into slits when ever you see JJ and you act like you want to kill her." Sara said sarcastically. "Look, seriously, we think that you two are meant to be together, it's the only reason we are backing this crazy scheme."

"So this was planned?" Krisalyn asked softly.

"Nick and Warrick thought it up. Why do you think you got an engagement ring so quickly? It's because Nick already bought it, long before that crime scene and long before we announced our little idea to JJ." Kathryn said softly.

"Why is it that everyone seems to think they know what's best for me, better than I do?" Krisalyn asked annoyed. "I think that I should just transfer out of the lab and go somewhere else. I mean if I move to a city close to Las Vegas I could visit Ella's grave occasionally."

"But as her mother you couldn't bear to do something like that." Kathryn said knowingly. "I'm a mother myself and I know for a fact that if something had happened to my daughter, I couldn't bear to live away from where I could visit her and be with her. It's a maternal pull that you have with her."

"I miss her every single day. I keep thinking that Nick has got to hate me for the fact that he never got to meet her and the fact that I didn't keep her safe, I didn't protect her the way I should have." Krisalyn said as tears fell from her eyes.

"It's always going to hurt, but you have to let go of the guilt. It wasn't your fault that some monster did what he did. You were her mother and no matter what Ella knew how much you loved her and how much you would have sacrificed to save her. You did what you could to keep your daughter safe, you have to trust in that." Kathryn said softly.

"Is that why you push Nick away?" Sara asked softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you pretend to hate him and not want to be around him because you are afraid he hates you or that you don't deserve him?" Sara elaborated.

"I guess so. I never really thought about why I do the things I do. I only know that he drives me insane sometimes and I don't want to be around him." Krisalyn shrugged her shoulders, wiping away her tears.

* * *

Nick was laughing as he, Warrick, Greg and Grissom ate lunch at the diner. They were out buying new suits, at Kathryn's request, for a special party she was planning to throw in honor of the impending nuptials of Nick and Krisalyn. Nick knew that Krisalyn thought everyone was just playing along with a joke, trying to get JJ off his back, but that wasn't the case. They were really planning a wedding for the couple because Nick was serious about finally getting married. After talking to his family back in Texas he was starting to realize he wasn't getting any younger and he wanted a family.

"You know I was just thinking about the look on Krisalyn's face when we all started playing along with this engagement scheme." Greg said with a laugh. "She wanted it to be real but she couldn't let on. She is so totally in love with you man."

"You think so?" Nick asked with a surprised look.

"Please, everyone can see it when they look at the two of you that there is something there. You two are meant to be together." Warrick said putting his two sense in.

"Honestly Nick, you have got to be completely blind not to see that she is in love with you, almost as blind as you were by JJ a while ago." Grissom added evenly.

* * *

JJ was fuming as she stomped around her apartment. She couldn't believe that Krisalyn had won over the one man she had wanted. She threw a vase against the wall and walked over to the pictures she had set on the coffee table. It had taken her a long time to figure out what she wanted in a husband and Nick had met her criteria to perfection. She had known that the kids they would have together would have been beautiful but no he had to chose that slut. JJ could feel her blood boiling but she wasn't sure how she was going to change anything about the situation right now. She set the pictures aside and tried to formulate a plan.

* * *

He laughed as he studied the information he now held in his hands. No one knew the true identity of the killer and no one knew the true identity of one of their own. They all thought they could trust each other in that stupid crime lab but now he knew the truth and he had the proof. If he wanted to he could make the entire world hate this person but he wasn't ready to do that just yet. He laughed his evil laugh as he placed the packets of information aside and glanced outside his office door. Everyone out there was blind to his evil side, they all just thought he was shy because he had just been transferred here not to long ago, the fools. He looked at the receptionist who was filing her nails as she yapped away on a personal phone call during business hours. So they all thought that he was to strict when it came to work, just wait until they find out what the punishment is for lacking.

* * *

Nick was laughing as he opened the front door and walked in. He took one look around his house and knew that something had happened while he was away. He slowly walked in and debated about drawing his weapon but decided against it. There was no reason for him to think the change had been completely bad and he was just curious as to what could have happened while he was away. He walked all the way inside and set his stuff down, looking around for any sign of Krisalyn.

"Kris?"

"Hey you're home. I kind of thought you would be out later with the guys, thinking up a new scheme of some sort or another." Krisalyn said sarcastically.

"Hey, this is not just my idea. Besides I happen to think it's more than a scheme, it's a desperate attempt to make sure that we stay together." Nick said shrugging his shoulders.

"More like pathetic. Nick why are you forcing a marriage?" Krisalyn asked. "If I don't sign the marriage license or even look willing to tie the knot it won't happen so you'll be wasting your money and everyone's time."

"Except you hate a big conflict and to embarrass someone. So if I have a bunch of people who know me around you won't dare say no because you would feel to bad. I'm counting on that sweet and nice girl that I met." Nick said evenly.

"Well maybe she doesn't exist anymore." Krisalyn said starting to get angry.

"I happen to know that she does. At every crime scene we have been to I have seen the hurt and pain in your eyes. It's almost like you knew every victim but you didn't. Any death or heartache causes you pain and suffereing no matter who it's to." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?" Krisalyn said simply.

"Because Ella would have wanted both of her parents to be together and you know it. Ella would have deserved two parents and I refuse to think that you don't believe that." Nick said starting to get angry. "I didn't meet her but I know that the only thing I have ever wanted is to be a dad and I think a deserve a chance at that."

* * *

JJ was laughing as she finished the final plans for her revenge. She realized that she seemed crazy or even mean to the others but they never bothered to get to know her, or to even attempt to be her friend. The one person who had any attempt at all decided to ditch her and get married to someone who hated her, although JJ had to admit that she hated her back. She set aside her final plans and got up from her seat at her desk. She knew it was only a matter of time before they figured everything out and transferred her away from here, but it would be to late to stop her plan that would already be set in motion.

* * *

She was scared, probably more scared than she had ever been. They promised her that she would be all right but she had a feeling they were lying. Her mom had always told her about the angry evil people in the world but she had never believed they were that bad, until now that is. She wanted nothing more than to find a way to get away and go see her mother but even she knew that was never going to happen. She had been in deep trouble since the beginning and now she was in worst trouble than ever. The men around her looked angry and ready to take all their frustrations out on her. She huddled back into the corner of the room and hoped the shadows would protect her, even for a little while.

* * *

Krisalyn stared at the papers that were sitting in front of her. Although she had been looking at them for the past three hours she still had no clue what the ballistics report had said. She had returned to work that morning, but only on light duty which meant she was in charge of running most of the ballistics and stuff. She sighed and pushed it aside and finally admitted defeat.

"Why can't I concentrate?" She muttered to herself as she jumped out of her chair. All day she had been day dreaming about something or someone. Her thoughts always seemed to drift immediately to Nick. She smacked her palm against her forehead to try to stop her thoughts from straying again but could already tell it was no use. Her mind immediately wondered straight back to him and she sighed with displeasure.

"The report not say what you want it to?" Kathryn asked walking into the room.

Krisalyn jumped and turned around quickly. "You scared me." She said simply, her palm flying to her chest.

"Admit it, you have to the hots for him and you want to marry him." Kathryn said softly.

"I can't…" Krisalyn said with tears in her eyes.

"Why not?"


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I know that the whole marriage thing came out of left field and is probably a little soon in the story but the reasoning is I want the whole romance thing to bloom first and everything so that I can start to fully concentrate on the forensics and the case. Besides I have my reasons for getting these two wed… Although I'm sure there are some who think the whole romance thing is irrelevant but I think they have to have some personal lives so that work doesn't fully consume, besides this will add drama later in the story….

* * *

Chapter 16

Krisalyn just stared at the floor afraid to move or even to say anything to Kathryn for fear that she would finally had to admit the real reason she was fighting everyone on this whole marriage scheme they had going on. She bit her bottom lip anxiously and just stared at the floor some more until she heard her friend sigh.

"I know that there is something wrong here but I can't believe that you don't want to be with him. He makes you smile and he makes you laugh. He seems to know exactly who you are and what will make you feel better. Face it Krisalyn the man is your soul mate, just like Warrick is mine." Kathryn sighed.

"I can't admit to it because it's not fair for me to be happy." Krisalyn admitted.

"Kathryn can you excuse us for a moment?" Nick asked from his position in the doorway.

"All right." Kathryn nodded and left the room.

"Ella would have wanted you to be happy Krisalyn. She would have wanted you to be okay with life and to move on. I may not had met her but if she was a mixture of both us then she had to be a wonderful and bright child." Nick said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Krisalyn. "I know that I haven't been the best friend or boyfriend in the world but I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to make you a great husband, if you'll give me a chance." Nick said as he kissed the side of her forehead.

"I give up." Krisalyn whispered as she felt the tears running down her cheeks. "I'm tired of fighting everyone about this."

"Aww isn't this sweet." Came the sarcastic voice from the doorway.

"JJ is there something you need?" Nick asked her annoyed.

"So it's really true? You two are going to attempt to get married?" JJ asked seriously.

"Not attempt, we are." Krisalyn finally admitted out loud. "Something we probably should have done a few years ago."

"I agree with that." Greg said walking into the room with a serious look on his face. "JJ I think you and I need to have a talk."

As Greg and JJ left the room Krisalyn and Nick shared a weird look with each other. Both of them glanced from each other to the retreating backs of their colleagues with curiosity blooming.

"What do you think that's all about?" Krisalyn asked Nick with a worried look on her face.

"Well if I know Greg he is feeling mighty left out of the whole love situation. He might try and get something started with JJ, if for no other reason than to keep her off our backs and to keep up with everyone else around here." Nick said shrugging.

"Well then we may owe him a pretty big thank you." Krisalyn said with a smile on her face.

"I think you might be right this time." Nick said with a chuckle.

"Well it looks like you two worked everything out." Sara said as she entered the room with Grissom and Warrick.

"Well then I think it's time we concentrate on the case." Grissom said with a file in his hand.

"You mean you four get to concentrate on the case and I get to work back logged ballistics because I can't leave this room." Krisalyn said sarcastically.

"At least until he pages us again." Nick pointed out.

"Which he might not do for a long time to come, so since I am resigned to become Mrs. Stokes can I at least plan a wedding at the same time I am working. I mean I can only look under a microscope for so long before my eyes will get tired." Krisalyn asked with a look at Grissom.

"All right but only because we are going to be to busy to help on that end and there is no way you can plan one in time in your off hours but make sure you get some work done to. Contact whatever investigators are working certain cases and give them the ballistics information that they are going to need." Grissom said with a nod. "Oh and make sure that Eckley and JJ don't bug you. If you have any problems with either of them give me a call, I am sure we can figure something out with those two."

* * *

He laughed as he watched the terror that crossed the face of his 'hostage'. Little did anyone know that the real game was one that he was playing solo. It was truly a horrible one that most people would cringe at the thought of playing but he loved it. He left the room and went in search of his notes on what he would do next to torture the players in his pretend game. He was trying to think of what his next move could become and then it hit him. It would be brilliant to combine the fake with the real. Maybe it was time to add some players to the original game and make things more interesting. With a deep breath he decided to call his partner, the one he hadn't talked to in so long and see what they thought of his new idea. Everyone had always assumed he worked solo but now it might be time to change everyone's opinion and shake things up a bit.

* * *

As late as it was things were still running behind. Krisalyn glanced at her watch and then back at the pile of evidence from a fresh crime scene. There had been a huge shoot out between the police and gang and so it was up to Krisalyn to sort out what guns shot what bullets, and she still didn't have the bullets from the victims yet. Sighing she tried yet again to match up a bullet to it's original gun. She heard footsteps behind her and immediately spun around to come face to face with a guilty looking Nick.

"Nick Stokes if you ever sneak up on me again I might be tempted to put a bullet in you." Krisalyn said holding a hand to her pounding heart.

"Sorry hun." He said with a guilty look. "I brought you something to eat. Grissom said you probably weren't getting out of here anytime soon."

"Thanks baby, you don't know how much I appreciate this." Krisalyn said with a smile on her face. "I heard you were just as swamped. You finally going home?" She asked arching her brow.

"Nope, but I was allowed out of the cage long enough to pick up food." Nick joked as he handed her some food. "I would love to stay and eat with you but Grissom has us all on tasks and deadlines so I better get back to my lockup."

It was 3AM when Eckley finally told everyone they had better head home and get some sleep. If they didn't get any rest they could make mess ups on a case or a defense attorney could site the lack of sleep as a probable cause for any type of evidence issue they might have. As everyone filed out of the lab area and headed towards the police parking lot Krisalyn noticed JJ standing off to the side with a serious look on her face. She could always tell when there was something that someone needed to tell her.

"Nick why don't you go a head to the car and I'll meet you there. I want to have a talk with JJ." Krisalyn said evenly.

"Why?" Nick asked glancing at the woman who had become an enemy to him.

"Because something tells me that maybe there is something on her mind that may be useful to find out. Whether she knows it or not I will be able to gather some information from her and she won't even know she's giving it to me." Krisalyn said with a smirk. "I always get information out of people without them knowing."

"I'll have to remember that." Nick said arching a brow at her.

"I always knew what I was getting for Christmas when I was growing up. My parents wouldn't even realize they were telling me the information. Well when I lived with my parents that is." Krisalyn said looking at the ground.

"I am going to ask you to elaborate on that later." Nick said with a pointed look.

"I figured as much. Look when I am feeling much better and am stronger emotionally then I will elaborate but please don't ask me to do it when I am feeling so drained." Krisalyn said as she started in JJ's direction.

* * *

JJ watched her walk towards her and bit her bottom lip nervously. As much as she was vindictive and hated the woman walking towards her she had some information that might be important and even relevant to her. Besides the way JJ looked at it maybe if she gave Krisalyn this information she could scare her off and maybe get Nick all to her self. She could tell by the way the woman was walking towards her that she had a purpose and she also knew this conversation wasn't going to be very pleasant.

"Look before you even say a word I want you to know that the only reason I am giving you any information at all is because I don't want to see anything happen to Nick. No matter what happens to you, I don't care. I just want to make sure that my future husband is in one piece long enough for our wedding and our children to grow up." JJ said with a sadistic look on her face.

"You actually believe you have a shot with him." Krisalyn said with amazement. "What is it that has you all happy and smirking?"

"I have an old contact that moved out here and found out I was working out here. They wanted to know if I was interested in renewing our working relationship, I said it depended on the information they provided. It's regarding your case and what might happen to you in the very near future." JJ said shrugging her shoulders. She handed Krisalyn a packet of papers and then tightened her hold on her briefcase. With that she turned and headed towards her car without another word to her enemy.

* * *

Krisalyn met up with Nick at his car and held up the papers in her hand. "She's worried about what might happen to you so she gave me this information from an old CI of hers." She said evenly.

"Well isn't that sweet." He muttered as they climbed into the car and sat there for a second. Before Nick started the car Krisalyn started reading and her eyes went wide. "Nick don't start the car." She said quickly.

"What why?" Nick asked alarmed.

"Because I think that there is something wrong here. Something is really bothering me about this information and something is bothering me about the way your ignition hole looks right there." She said as she glanced at the key and then into his eyes. "Look at it Nick, it's been tampered with." She said softly.

"So maybe someone tried to jack my car and then chickened out." He said nervously.

"Do you want to take that chance? I wouldn't touch anything just yet, get out your phone and call Grissom and get his opinion something just isn't right." Krisalyn murmured.

"But this guys wants us to play his game, why kill us?" Nick asked as he dialed Grissom.

"Maybe he isn't the one were dealing with right now." Krisalyn muttered as she listened to Nick talk to Grissom. She glanced out the window on her side and sucked in a deep breath, she couldn't be sure but she might recognize someone standing there with a smirk on their face, and that's when it hit her. "Nick don't move a muscle, we have a situation."


	17. Chapter 17

AN: okay since there is confusion when it comes to the whole Kathryn/Catherine thing. I am going to try and write it with a "C" from now on. I might forget in later chapters… I'll try not to. So I am going to try and change it back so there isn't so much confusion. Sorry… Now I could probably update this one a lot faster if I cut some of the chapters shorter rather than keeping them as long as I have them, your decision.

Chapter 17

After quite a few hours where the bomb squad scanned the car and finally found the device Krisalyn and Nick were finally allowed to leave the car. Sighing with intense pleasure at not having to sit there Krisalyn and Nick walked over to Catherine and Warrick who were leaning against their own car.

"Well I guess we should all be happy that the moron was stupid enough to hang around and that Warrick was able to sneak up on him. Any tips before interrogation?"

"I busted him over on the east coast. He is probably mad because I cost him his wife and kids. You can push his buttons easily and get him to talk by telling him about being worthless or something like that. Belittle him enough and he will start talking." Krisalyn said softly.

Nick and Krisalyn watched Warrick enter the station and then turned back to Catherine who was smiling at the two of them.

"I'll give you a ride home. You're just gonna take Krisalyn's car tomorrow right?" She asked as she nodded towards her car behind them.

"Yeah, better than spending unnecessary money on a rental until my car is cleared." Nick nodded as he piled into the backseat with Krisalyn in the front next to Catherine.

"So have you guys figured out what that new message meant?" Catherine asked softly.

"Not a clue." Krisalyn said shaking her head. "You wanna take a look at it and give us your thoughts?"

"Well I honestly can't think all that straight right now. How about we look at it when we have all had some rest and gotten some of the feelings from this incident out of our heads?" Catherine suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Works for me." Nick said from the backseat.

"So anyway Nick you wanna tell me what's on the menu for the wedding?" Catherine asked with a wink at Krisalyn.

"Haha that's not my department." Nick said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wanna think again?" Krisalyn asked turning around in her seat. "You are going to be helping with the planning or else we aren't getting married."

"Since when did you want me around for the planning process?" Nick asked arching his eyebrows.

"I have always wanted you around and now I suggest that you start getting involved, unless you want me to tell JJ you are completely available." Krisalyn said with a grin.

Nick glanced into her blue eyes and could tell that she was completely serious about what she was saying. Sighing he nodded his head slowly and slumped back into his seat knowing full well that she wasn't just joking around she fully intended to tell JJ that he was available if he screwed up. He would just have to wait until they were married before he got even with her by simply not doing things and then the only way to get rid of him would be through a courtroom and she wouldn't want to do it that way. He grinned inside his head, being careful not to show it on his face, just wait until she figured out what he was thinking, then he was really going to be in for it.

* * *

The little girl hunched into the corner, scared and confused. She wanted out of this place but knew that this mean monster wasn't going to let her escape. She wanted her mommy and her daddy. She hugged the ragged teddy bear to her chest and thought about her favorite stuffed dog her mama had given her for her birthday. It was the cutest little dog that looked like a cocker spaniel. Mama said it reminded her of the dog she had when she was a little girl and so she had named the stuffed one "Romona" after mama's dog. She felt the tears streak down her face as she pictured her mom's face and her mom's hair. She reached up and felt her own greasy, stringy hair and missed the way it was when it was French-braided.

"I miss my mama." She whispered to the bear but like always her imagination still couldn't will the bear to answer. She desperately wanted someone to talk to, someone who understood her and would make her feel better but even now it wasn't mean to be. She was cold and she shivered as she realized that the heat was no longer on. That meant he wasn't home to enjoy it so she had to freeze. She sneezed again and sighed, even though she was little she knew she was in trouble.

* * *

Krisalyn was tossing and turning in bed, her dreams once again haunted by horrifying images that she couldn't seem to get away from. She could see herself running away from a person but she couldn't see that person's face. She sighed in her sleep and heard herself screaming someone's name but she couldn't make it out. Then Nick appeared and he was pointing a gun at someone. Krisalyn frowned as she tried to make out what was happening but her mind refused to cooperate. Instead she watched as he pulled the trigger and a person fell to the ground.

Krisalyn sat straight up in bed and looked around the room in shock. She wasn't sure what she had just seen but she was pretty sure that it wasn't anything good. Groaning she leaned against the headboard and tried to rest her tired eyes, knowing she wouldn't be falling back to sleep anytime soon. She heard someone walking around outside in the hall and decided that Nick must be just as restless as her. She climbed out of bed slowly and threw on a robe. As she opened the bedroom door she saw a figure dressed in black creeping down the hallway. She could already tell by it's form that it wasn't Nick Stokes.

"Freeze LVPD don't move." Krisalyn said pretending she had her gun but yelling it loud enough to warn Nick as well. "If you don't want to get shot you won't move a muscle."

"You wouldn't shoot me lady, you don't have the guts." The figure spoke.

"She won't have to 'cause I will." Nick said stepping out into the hall with his gun trained on the figure.

"Aw man they said no one was gonna be home." The figure said with a growl.

"Who said we wouldn't be home?" Krisalyn questioned from her position.

"I ain't talking man. I just came to do a job that I was paid to do." The figure moaned just as a loud crash could be heard from the living room.

"You stay with him and I'll take the living room." Krisalyn said as she dashed back into her room and grabbed her weapon. She made a mad dash for the living room, feeling all her injuries scream in protest, just in time to see a figure walk towards the office. Krisalyn shook her head and followed with her weapon at the ready.

* * *

Catherine and Warrick were going over the evidence that was from the bomb that was planted in Nick's vehicle. The were both trying to figure out how someone could get so close to killing to cops in a police parking lot without anyone knowing.

"This guy could have taken anyone out and no one would have been paying any attention." Catherine muttered as she gripped a piece of evidence in her hand.

"Catherine, careful with that." Warrick warned pointing to her hand.

"Oh yeah sorry." Catherine said with a sigh. "I just can't believe that someone could be so careless and cruel. What if Krisalyn hadn't recognized something wrong?"

"Then we would be working a homicide." Warrick said softly. "I know I am thinking the same thing you are Catherine."

"So then we have to figure something out." She said as she looked at the evidence. "Maybe this is a wake-up call and people will start paying attention to the police parking lot or at least add more security to it."

"Yeah right and admit we have a problem with our police security?" Warrick said jokingly. "It's never going to happen. You and I both know the Sheriff will never admit when he needs help or when he's in the wrong."

"I know but it's ridiculous." Catherine said with a sigh.

"I think we all will agree with you there." Grissom said from the doorway. "We just got a call of an officer needs assistance."

"So?" Catherine asked confused.

"At Nick's house." Sara interjected.

"Great so now we have to worry about them getting attacked at home." Warrick muttered as they all filed out to back up their friends.

* * *

Nick hung up his cell phone and kept his gaze trained on the guy in front of him. He hadn't heard a peep from Krisalyn since she had headed into the living room and he was starting to get a little bit worried. He cocked his weapon and gave the person in front of him a look that said that he was not the person to be messed with right now.

* * *

Krisalyn watched from her vantage point as the person in front of her tore apart Nick's desk looking for something. She noticed the picture Nick had stuck on the wall of Ella and smiled. She quickly shook herself out of her daze and kept her gaze trained on the person. She noticed the look in the eyes of the perp as their gaze landed on the photograph Krisalyn had been admiring and saw the shocked look on their face.

"I don't believe it." The person muttered.

"Freeze LVPD." Krisalyn said as she entered the room with her gun trained.

"No way." The perp said swearing under his breath as he raised his hands high and stared at Krisalyn. "No one was supposed to be here."

"So we've been told." Krisalyn said dryly as she heard sirens in the distance and figured Nick must have called it in. "You people just can't leave us alone."

Grissom and Warrick entered the house after the two perps were handcuffed and saw their friends sitting on the couch with bored looks on their faces. Sitting next to them were Catherine and Sara who were trying to figure out what was going on just like Brass.

"Okay so you're saying they were paid and ordered to break in?" Brass asked with a confused look. "By who?"

"We don't know that's just what we were told. They were also told that no one was going to be home tonight and that they wouldn't have any problems." Krisalyn answered with a shrug of her shoulders. "The one that was in front of me was going through Nick's things in his home office." She said indicating the room at the other end of the house.

"All right." Brass said nodding still looking confused. "Did they find what they were looking for?"

"Don't think so. I gave them a few minutes, I wanted to know what they were looking for as well but the person got distracted by a picture of Ella so I figured they were going to stop looking." Krisalyn said shrugging again.

"What do you mean they got distracted by a picture of Ella?" Brass asked interested.

"Probably because no one knows Nick had a daughter and there wasn't supposed to be a kid involved. My best guess would be they were worried that there might be a problem with a child involved and that we would be searching for them even more for endangering our daughter." Krisalyn said shrugging a third time. "I think it's safe to say that whoever did this doesn't know that Ella isn't alive or that she even existed. Those guys don't know she's dead so when they get word to their boss about a kid being in the picture someone's going to get nervous."

"You think so?" Nick asked glancing at her.

"Yeah." She nodded.

* * *

He was getting anxious more and more lately. Something big had to happen soon or else they would think he moved on and he couldn't have that now could he. He knew just what to do to get their attention again. 


	18. Chapter 18

Ch. 18

Krisalyn stood with Nick just outside of the interrogation room and listened closely to everything that was being said. They had wanted to be a part of the questioning process but Grissom and Brass had both been strictly against it. Nick was getting nervous about whatever was going to be said in there, thinking that there might be a secondary threat and that this might not have anything to do with their original case. Sighing Krisalyn leaned against the wall and stared through the viewing glass as Brass went at the guy Krisalyn had caught in the office.

* * *

"Look you entered the house of two Las Vegas Crime Scene tech's and that makes this personal mister so if I were you I would start talking and tell us who hired you, why and what it is you were after." Brass said for the fifteenth time.

"Look I have valuable information you might want, so if I were you I would be talking deal right now." The man said with a nasty smirk.

Brass decided to play the card Krisalyn had mentioned about a child. "You endangered a child, how do you think a jury is going to react to that."

"The kid wasn't there, but I have information about that kid that you might want." The man said with a nasty laugh.

"Excuse me?" Brass said not sure how to react.

"Here let me give you a tidbit that you can chew on while you work on my deal, I know where the kid is." The man said smirking.

* * *

"What is he talking about? Ella's dead." Krisalyn said confused.

"Yeah we know that but he might be trying to play us. He probably thinks his partner succeeded, maybe they were told to take Ella, they probably think she is alive." Sara said thinking about it.

"Maybe." Krisalyn said biting her lip. She watched as Grissom and Brass left the room and followed everyone else into the hallway.

"We aren't going to get anything. Let's head over and talk to suspect number two and see what he has to say." Brass said. Everyone turned and headed over to the other interrogation room that had viewing access.

Krisalyn watched them go and waited till they were out of sight. Sighing she made a decision and quickly entered the first interrogation room and watched the face of the man sitting at the table. She quickly took a seat across from him and waited to see what he was going to say. When he kept his mouth shut Krisalyn decided to reveal the truth about Ella and get his reaction.

"Ella is dead." Krisalyn whispered. "You aren't going to get any deal with information about the whereabouts of a dead little girl."

"I was wondering why it seemed no one was looking for her. I don't know who you buried in her place but I promise you that your daughter isn't dead ma'am." The man said softly.

"Do you have kids?" Krisalyn asked leaning back in her chair.

"Yes." The man said nervously.

"Then imagine yourself in my place. I can't force anyone to make a deal with you and they won't listen to me. I want you to imagine that your child is in my daughter's place. If what you say is true and she is alive then please tell me where she is so I can be her mother and protect her." Krisalyn said with a soft pleading voice. She didn't think it was going to work, she didn't think this man was going to be human but suddenly he grabbed the pen and wrote down an address.

"I lost a kid once to." He muttered as he slid the pad back to her.

Krisalyn walked out of the room holding the pad in front of her with a weary look. She tore the top sheet off and folded it carefully, placing it in her pocket before setting the pad and pen down a chair. She looked down the hall, debating on whether or not she should tell them what the suspect had informed her and then decided not to. There was no way she was going to let them know that she wanted to believe what she was told so desperately. She grabbed the keys to a CSI vehicle on her way out and quickly left the building. Even if this little girl wasn't her's she had to check, for her own peace of mind.

* * *

He knew something was wrong but he wasn't sure what it was. His men hadn't checked in since he had sent them on their mission. Frowning he quickly called his contact, wanting to know if his men got themselves caught and if they had he would have to move to another location and fast.

* * *

Krisalyn arrived at the building that was indicated and looked around. She was quickly regretting her decision not to bring back up and decided to call in for some now. She dialed Nick's cell phone, unsure whether or not he had even noticed that she was no longer at the lab. She waited patiently for him to answer his phone.

"Stokes."

"Nick it's Krisalyn."

"Where are you? Grissom and I have been calling the house looking for you." Nick said quickly.

"Bring some cops and meet me at 5100 S. Westin Avenue apartment 4." Krisalyn said immediately. She had a really bad feeling and started getting out of her car.

"Why?" Nick asked her confused.

"Can't explain just hurry up and get here." Krisalyn said as she clicked off her phone.

Krisalyn walked slowly into the building with dread feeling her up. She took her badge out of her pocket and placed it in a place were everyone would be able to see it. She pulled her gun out and slowly made her way to the apartment. She got there and glanced around the hallway as she leaned against the wall. She made the decision to knock and winced as she thought of all the ways this could go bad.

* * *

She looked at the door as she heard someone knocking. The man had left to make a phone call down the street so she knew it wasn't him playing a trick on her. She winced as she cried out for someone to help her, hoping that this person was someone who was here to save her and take her away from this bad place. She just wanted to go home and see her mommy and her stuffed dog.

* * *

Krisalyn heard the small voice crying out for someone to help her and took that as probably cause. She knew her injuries were going to scream in protest but she kicked in the door and entered the apartment.

"Police." She shouted as she made her way inside.

"Help me please." Came a voice from a padlocked closet. Krisalyn made her over to it just as she heard someone enter the apartment.

"What's going on?" A uniformed officer asked.

"CSI." Krisalyn held up her badge. "I was sent her by a suspect and heard someone calling for help. It's coming from this closet." She pointed at the locked door.

They worked together to get the padlock off and then the officer headed towards the hallway to keep watch as she opened the closet slowly and her jaw dropped as she stared at the pale and frail form of the child sitting there clutching a ragged bear.

"Ella?" Krisalyn whispered as she dropped to her knees.

"Mama." Ella cried as she ran to her arms.

Krisalyn held Ella and rocked her back and forth as tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't believe it. After all this time thinking her little girl was dead she was here in her arms.

Nick and the team walked into the apartment and looked around. The uniformed cop pointed towards the open closet and said she was in there with whoever had been help captive. They walked over and stood in the doorway watching Krisalyn hug a little girl but they couldn't see her face.

"Krisalyn?" Nick asked confused.

"It's Ella, my baby is alive." Krisalyn cried as she glanced at him. "Our little girl is alive."

Nick dropped to his knees next to her and stared at the daughter he had never met. He cleared his throat and reached out his hand to touch her hair.

"Ella do you know who this is?" Krisalyn asked wiping tears from her eyes.

Ella shook her head and stared at Nick, unsure of why her mother was asking her this.

"Ella this is your daddy." Krisalyn said as finally introduced her daughter to her father.

"Daddy?" Ella asked him.

Nick nodded his head and held his arms open, holding his breath he waited to see if his little girl would come to him and breathed a sigh of relief when she did. He finally got the chance to hold his daughter.

"We've called an ambulance." Sara informed them. She glanced behind her as paramedics entered the room.

Krisalyn and Nick didn't want to let go of Ella but they could tell just by looking at her that she needed medical treatment.

"I parked the vehicle across the street, here are the keys, I'm riding with my daughter." Krisalyn informed Grissom handing over the vehicle keys.

"We'll meet you at the hospital." Sara said with a soft smile.

Krisalyn followed the gurney that carted her darted out of the grungy apartment and watched for any sign of the man who had done this to her family. She held Ella's hand tightly as the little girl threw frightened eyes all around her. Police officers that had been called in watched the gurney with fury at the thought that a child had been injured, it was a known fact that cops took cases with children involved very personally. Krisalyn climbed into the back of the ambulance after the gurney was loaded and just stared at her daughter absolutely amazed that she was actually alive. It was then that she realized the full implication of what that meant, someone else was buried in Ella's grave and someone that she used to work with had purposely deceived her.

* * *

Nick watched the faces of his colleagues and could tell that they all wanted to say something to him at the moment but no one was quite sure what to say. He shook his head as he walked outside with Warrick and watched the ambulance drive away. He had been mourning a child he had never met and now he had that child back. Something seemed a little off to him.

"We have to dig up Ella's grave and see who is buried there." Nick said softly.

"I know." Warrick nodded his head slowly in agreement.

"Someone out there has lost a child and doesn't know it yet." Nick said shaking his head.

"Well maybe they do know it and that's the problem." Warrick said.

* * *

He watched them from his vantage point with anger boiling inside of him. No one was ever supposed to find that little girl. That was his trick up his sleeve. He knew which one of the incompetent men had told Krisalyn about the apartment and he would make him pay. He watched the man who had been holding Ella slowly back away from the corner with fear in his eyes. That man was just as responsible as the others. He threw something that landed on that side to get the CSI's to look towards the corner and sure enough it worked. They noticed the man that was slowly turning to run and gave chase and he had to laugh.

* * *

Nick and Warrick rounded the corner in full pursuit with a couple of uniformed cops running with them. To Nick this was personal but to everyone else it was about catching a possible criminal. When they reached a cross section they split up and searched for the suspect. That would prove to be a big mistake.

Neither of them saw the weapon until it was to late. Three shots were fired and two men went down.


	19. Chapter 19

Ch. 19

Krisalyn was cuddling her toddler in her arms with tears in her eyes. For all this time she had thought her little girl was dead and now here she was sleeping in her arms. She kept glancing towards the door waiting for Nick to come in but he hadn't shown up yet. Krisalyn frowned as an uneasy feeling built up inside of her. She didn't think there was much that could keep Nick Stokes away from his family but especially not away from the daughter he had just met. She glanced down when she felt Ella move and then moan in her arms. She stroked her blonde hair back and whispered comforting words to her little girl until she finally settled down.

* * *

Grissom was standing in the new crime scene area with the shocked police officers standing around him. It was a tough case to work when it involved police officers. Upon arriving at the scene it had looked like only two people may have been hit but it was quickly found out that both officers, one a CSI, and the perp were hit by bullets which caused an angry commotion. Not only were they looking the man who had kidnapped a young child and made a mother believe she had gotten her baby killed but he had also shot at two cops, everyone at the scene was hoping he would make it so that he could rot in that jail cell slowly with the stigma of child pedophile.

"Well folks this is a second crime scene that we need to work. Nick, I know you need to get to the hospital and check on Ella, make sure that you check on Warrick's condition for us as well." Grissom said with a nod in Nick's direction.

"Sure thing Grissom." Nick said as he took out his keys and headed away.

* * *

Nick walked into the hospital room and noticed Krisalyn rocking Ella back and forth in the rocking chair. He smiled as he walked over and knelt in front of her. He noticed that she had been crying and reached up to place his hand on her cheek so she would look up and notice him standing there.

"Hey." She whispered softly.

"Hey, how is she?" Nick asked a little confused as he noticed Ella seemed to be hooked up to some machines he had never seen before.

"They say that she should be able to come home soon but they want to monitor her closely since it seems like she has been heavily medicated for a while now." Krisalyn said and then frowned.

"What?" Nick asked her simply.

"I was going to ask you that question. You seem to be somewhere else right now." Krisalyn said with an arched brow.

"As I was about to leave the scene the kidnapper showed up. We got into a foot pursuit and then there was a shoot out. The kidnapper is in critical condition, the patrol officer was pronounced DOA here at the hospital and Warick took a couple of bullets." Nick said with a sigh.

"How's Catherine taking it?" Krisalyn asked as she stroked Ella's hair.

"I don't know. She wasn't around when they took Warrick away and I haven't seen her here yet although I am sure she is here." Nick said glancing out towards the hallway.

"Do you want to go down to emergency and see what's going on?" Krisalyn asked with an arched eyebrow. She knew it must be tough not being down there to see what was going on but at the same time she didn't want Nick to leave her here alone. She needed someone there to help her deal with this. There were so many emotions running through her at the moment she didn't know how she was going to be able to handle it all.

"Nah, I think everyone would understand if I stayed up here with you and our daughter." Nick said as he reached out and stoked his daughters hair back again.

"I can't believe she's real." Krisalyn said with tears in her eyes. "What I don't understand is why she is here in Vegas. I don't understand how this is connected to our case either."

"I don't know either." Nick said as thoughts started running through his head. As much as he wanted to stay there he needed to get back to the lab and run some things pass Greg. Since Warrick wasn't going to be there he would use Greg to try and figure this out. He had a feeling the answer to all his questions was staring him in the face and if he just looked hard enough he might be able to find it.

* * *

Nick was sitting in one of the conference rooms with Greg staring at the board in front of him. He wasn't sure what it was but there was something staring him in the face.

"This guy is obsessed with Krisalyn and I. Our daughters' death is faked and then she is brought here to Las Vegas. No one knew she was mine and Krisalyn hasn't worked out here. We worked together back at her lab so why bring her out here?"

"Someone knew that she was eventually going to have Ella buried out here? Someone close to her who knew that Vegas was where she would head to make her daughter's dream of seeing the white tigers come true?" Greg asked.

"That's a possibility, so it would be someone who worked with her out there. I remember she told me she didn't really hang out with anyone outside the lab." Nick said confused.

"All right so could we call Krisalyn and ask who knew about her burying Ella out here in Vegas?" Greg asked glancing at some of the gruesome crime scene photo's.

"No, she's busy keeping Ella calm. What about the victims are there any connection between them and Krisalyn?" Nick asked.

"Not that we can tell. We haven't gotten any of the reports or background from other states but I don't understand why Krisalyn would be the target in those cases." Greg said confused.

"What if she was? What if this guy started practicing on other victims to make sure that when it came down to it he could impress Krisalyn? What if the first set of victims have no connections?" Nick asked starting to get a theory. "What if those whole thing was building up to Las Vegas?"

"Then we have a serial killer who has one target." Greg said staring at Nick. "Why Krisalyn? What could it be about?"

"Let's get her old case files from her previous department. This could be about an old case that she worked and someone she had prior contact with. Also let's see if we can get evidence lists or copies of anything from all the other crime scenes. Grissom, Sara and Catherine are going to be at the hospital for a while with Warrick." Nick said as he stared at the board. It was all starting to make sense to him.

* * *

Krisalyn watched Ella sleep in her crib and sighed. It was almost unbelievable that after everything she had gotten her baby girl back. She knew that most people probably were going to doubt that she had no idea it wasn't her little girl that she buried but she didn't care. As long as Ella was here, with her mother, like she belonged she didn't care what people thought. Sighing again she stroked her back and felt her pager vibrate and frowned. No one would dare try and page her to any type of crime scene right now so she didn't know what this could be about. Slowly she got to her feet and left the room to glance at her pager. She didn't recognize the number but had a feeling it wasn't someone she wanted to talk to at the moment.

* * *

Greg walked back into the room and noticed that Nick was staring at the board with a frown on his face.

"Krisalyn's case files are all on the computer. They are going to give us enough access to view them but only for a short period of time. They figure since we are talking about a serial killer that we don't want to wait for them to fax us paperwork or even mail it." Greg said as he pointed at the computer.

"He's going to go after Krisalyn soon. His whole plan is falling apart and things are looking bad. We weren't supposed to find Ella, she was the bait. Now that Ella is safe and back with us he is going to need to get to her when she is vulnerable and not thinking clearly. Call Grissom and tell him to send Sara up to sit with Krisalyn, he is going to attempt to lure her away tonight." Nick said turning around quickly.

"Nick, do you think it's a cop?" Greg asked pulling out his cell phone.

"Without a doubt it's someone we know." Nick said nodding his head.

JJ walked into the room and sat down at the table. She waited until both men turned and looked at her. She smirked and crossed her arms in front of her knowing that neither of them were happy to see her sitting there.

"What is it that you want?" Greg asked sharply.

"Down puppy, I wanted to let you know that I got a phone call from Sara saying that Warrick was out of surgery and that he was stable. Catherine is sitting in with him now." JJ said rolling her eyes.

"Thank you now if you'll excuse us we have work to do." Nick said wanting Greg to make his phone call but not wanting to be alone with JJ.

Greg dialed Grissom's number on his phone, knowing he couldn't leave JJ with Nick.

"Grissom." Came a gruff answer.

"Send Sara up to Krisalyn and make sure she goes nowhere. Nick thinks our guy is going to attack tonight." Greg said simply before he hung up.

JJ continued to stare at the two men who glared at her. She knew that she had no chance with Nick but she also knew that she could end their search and help them with this case.

"You think that you can stop this guy from getting your fiancée?" JJ asked Nick simply. "I think that you are dumb and blind to think you have a chance to stop him."

"What do you know?" Nick asked straightening up and glaring at her even more.

"I know more than you think. I know that no matter what you do and no matter how much you think you can save her, Krisalyn is going to die and it's going to be a slow and painful death." JJ said with a shrug.

"Are you the one we are looking for?" Greg asked confused.

"Puh-lease. If I was the killer why would I sit here in a police station and talk to you like this. I am just someone who is smart enough to analyze the evidence and piece together enough to know she pissed the wrong person off and they are gonna kill her." JJ said rolling her eyes.

"Screw you." Nick said simply as he glared at JJ. "No matter what you think Krisalyn isn't going to die. We are gonna get married and raise our daughter together."

"News flash Ella is dead." JJ said snottily.

"News flash they just found her alive. Why do you think Krisalyn isn't here herself?" Greg said with a smirk.

JJ gulped and looked at Nick for confirmation, and saw it on his face. It was different when she was just trying to steal him from Krisalyn, but a kid? JJ knew what she had to do and she slowly got up. She knew who the killer was all right and she was going to try and stop him. She may not have a heart when it comes to certain things but when it came to kids she couldn't stomach causing them any harm.

* * *

He was getting angrier and angrier as he waited for Krisalyn to respond to his page. He knew that someone was getting to close to him. It was time to play his hidden card and he was going to do that as soon as he got all his players into place. It was almost time for the grand finale and soon Las Vegas would be under siege with only one way out, to deliver him his target. 


	20. Chapter 20

Ch. 20

Krisalyn laughed at something Sara had said and shook her head. She then looked at the crib that housed her toddler and noticed she was wide awake and attempting to stand up but was having trouble because of all the tubes and wires.

"Hey baby girl." Krisalyn said getting out of the recliner one of the nurses had brought in to her. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Mama, I hungry." Ella said sticking out her lower lip.

"Well I am glad to hear you say that sweetie." Krisalyn said as she stroked Ella's blonde curls out of her face.

"Dada!" Ella shouted.

Krisalyn turned around and saw Nick standing there with a smile on his face. She stepped aside as he walked fully into the room and headed over to Ella.

"Hey sweetheart." Nick said as he started stroking Ella's hair out of her face the way Krisalyn had just been doing. It was still amazing to him to see that he had a daughter and she was standing right there.

"Dada hungry." Ella said with a pouty face.

"She is gonna have him wrapped around her finger in no time at all." Sara laughed as she got up and started to head out of the door. "I guess I will leave you three alone to talk and everything."

"Did the doctor give you an update on her?" Nick asked as Ella settled down a little but was still pouting because she was hungry.

"Yeah, he said that he wants to keep her for a couple of days because she is severely malnourished and has some bumps and bruises. He said a couple of her ribs are cracked so they are keeping her medicated but other than that she is doing all right." Krisalyn said amazed at the fact that her daughter was in such good shape considering everything. "It's the long term emotional and mental effects that we won't know about yet."

"Yeah well, I guess we are going to have to keep an eye on her very carefully." Nick said with a smirk. "Did Sara tell you why she was in here?"

"Not really." Krisalyn said confused.

"I'll give you an update when she is sleeping again. I don't want to frighten Ella with anything else." Nick whispered to her out of the corner of his mouth.

"All right." Krisalyn said confused.

* * *

He was laughing as he got into his car and drove away. No one had even thought of the plan he had put into action. They were all so sure he was going to go after Ella and Krisalyn that they had left Warrick Brown with minimum guard. He could just see in his minds eye that the medical alarms were blazing and doctors were rushing in there to see the CSI fighting for his life thanks to the lack of guards. They would also find someone else injured and barely alive.

* * *

Nick rushed down stairs and into the hospital room that housed Warrick Brown. He stared at his friend who was gasping for breath and fighting for oxygen after being disconnected from the machines that were keeping him alive. He placed his hands on either side of his head as he stared at the bed, unsure of what to do at this point. He looked around the room and noticed blood pooling by the closet doorway.

"Get out of the way folks, Las Vegas PD Crime lab." Nick said as he drew his gun and pushed a couple of nurses out of his way. Pointing his gun he slowly opened the closet, aware that they were trying to save his friends life. He was prepared to fire his weapon if necessary but was glad he didn't have to when a body fell out. "Hey I need some help over here." He shouted as he knelt beside the person.

The face was covered with blood and the head shaved so there was no telling who it was or making anything out. Nick checked for a pulse and found a very weak one. He could see the wounds all over the head and face of the victim. He stepped aside as the hospital team took over with the victim, shouting for a gurney and more help.

* * *

Krisalyn cuddled Ella in her arms as she rocked back and forth in the rocking chair that was placed in the room. She kept glancing nervously towards the door, expecting Nick to come bursting in there and tell her that someone they knew was dead. A nurse had run into the room earlier and said that Nick was needed elsewhere.

"Baby it's okay." She whispered to her little girl who seemed to be struggling against sleep. "You need your rest."

"Mama no sleep." Ella said crying. "Mama want go home."

"No baby, you need to stay here a little while longer okay?" Krisalyn whispered as she cradled the little girl in her arms.

* * *

Grissom could feel his temper flaring at the phone call he had received from Nick. He glanced at the team that was gathered in the conference room and tried to think of how he was going to convince them not to go to the hospital but stay there and work this case. They needed to catch this guy and they needed to catch him soon.

"Look Warrick is going to be all right. Nick managed to get finger prints from the mutilated victim from the closet, Sara you run those through the system and see if we get lucky. Greg I am going to need you to go to the hospital and get some DNA from the victim and see if we get a match in the new missing person's database that houses DNA profiles." Grissom said looking at Sara and then Greg.

"All right." Sara said slowly. "Grissom are you going to let Catherine go be with Warrick?"

"I can't let you go there Catherine. I know you want to be there but Nick is already out of the case by looking after Krisalyn and Ella. I can't afford to lose another trusted team member when we need to get this guy." Grissom said looking at Catherine with an apologetic look on his face.

"I understand, but just so you know I am staying under protest and only because you are my supervisor." Catherine said with a glare in his direction.

"Understood." Grissom said nodding his head. "Listen folks this guy is a serial killer who is wanted in several other states. He is a cop killer and a kidnapper. We know that he has a reason that he targets the people he is targeting but we don't know what it is."

"What do you want me to do?" JJ asked crossing her arms in front of her as she leaned against the doorjamb.

"I have nothing for you to do at the moment." Grissom said as his eyes narrowed at the woman standing there. He had a feeling that JJ knew more than she was letting on and that there was something she could do to stop this monster. He had a feeling she was waiting until the suspect took out Krisalyn so she could step in and be the hero and try and get Nick for herself.

"Well just don't forget that I am part of your team now. You have to treat me the same way you treat all of your CSI's." JJ said with a smirk on her face.

Grissom watched her closely as she walked away and couldn't help but wonder how he was ever going to get her to tell him what was going inside that head of hers. He left the room and walked towards the DNA lab to find out if at any of the scenes there was any DNA evidence that could help them solve this case. As much as he hated to admit it, whoever this guy was he seemed to be smart enough to make the evidence lie.

* * *

A few days later...

Krisalyn was smiling as she walked out holding Ella in her arms. The hospital had decided she was well enough to be released and so they were going home. When she saw Nick next to the car she laughed at the look of pure confusion on his face as he attempted to get the carseat in properly.

"Here hold her while I do that." Krisalyn said handing Ella over to him and expertly hooking up the seat.

"I'll figure it out, eventually." Nick said with a sigh.

"Yeah I'm sure you will." Krisalyn laughed as she watched him place Ella inside the seat and buckle her in safely. She rolled her eyes as she climbed into the front seat and waited for Nick to get into the drivers seat.

"He's still out there." Nick whispered as he carefully handed a gun over to Krisalyn as he drove away from the hospital.

"We have to lock this up more than ever now." Krisalyn whispered back nervously as she glanced in the rearview mirror at Ella who was asleep.

"Yeah I know, don't worry Catherine has been through it and so she has managed to help install some sort of lockbox safe thing in the house." Nick said as his eyes glanced everywhere, watching for any sign of the man who wanted to kill them.

* * *

He was secretly laughing as he watched the two people he hated more than anything in the world glancing around, looking for any sign on him, but they wouldn't see him. He was watching them very closely but it didn't mean he was around them. He sat back and watched the monitor carefully. He had to admit that it was funny how they were trying to so cautious and yet they were being so stupid at the same time.

* * *

JJ was getting madder and madder as she watched the CSI team members performing their assigned tasks. It was starting to get to her how no one seemed to be able to trust her and how they didn't seem to want to include her. Well she would show them they were messing with the wrong CSI. She planned to solve this case with or without the teams help. She huffed as she raced out of the lab and headed for one of the man sources she had managed to pick up since her move to the Las Vegas area.

"I will make them wish they had trusted me and included me in everything. When I get all the credit for solving this serial killer case, they are going to worship the ground I walk on." JJ said huffing. "And who knows maybe Nick will decide to be with me anyway. I would be a good stepmother to his little brat."

* * *

Krisalyn and Nick arrived back at the house and Nick nodded in silent awareness that he was going to do a quick inside sweep to make sure the property was clear. Krisalyn stayed outside as she opened the back door to let air into the car but let Ella finish sleeping in the car seat until she was sure they were going inside.

"All clear." Nick said coming back out. "You should see what the team did for us in one of the spare rooms." He said with a smile.

"Can't wait." Krisalyn said simply as she unbuckled Ella and pulled the toddler out. She stirred but then rested her head on Krisalyn's shoulder and fell back to sleep.

* * *

He laughed as he watched them enter the house. Now it was time for the real cat and mouse games to begin. He had rigged the house to be under his control. He had microphones and cameras in each area of the house and as soon as he was ready he was going to make his move. He was going to make it so Krisalyn and Nick were begging for death by the time he was through. He laughed even harder as he watched them place their daughter into her crib. He was going to enjoy doing the things he was all set up to do. 


	21. Chapter 21

AN - Sorry to have to say this but because of an immature and nasty anonymous reviewer I have had to block all anonymous reviews so that I can track this person. They decided to leave nasty and unnecessary reviews which I have deleted and so they have unfortunately ruined it for everyone. I am sorry to those who preferred to remain anonymous and enjoyed reviewing but it was the only to stop those reviews from coming in...

* * *

Ch. 21

Krisalyn groaned as the alarm went off for the fifteenth time that night. Every time it went off both her and Nick would jump out of bed and check the house. Ella started screaming at the loud sound and Nick immediately shut it off and started checking the house. Krisalyn put her gun in the waistband of her pajama pants and headed into Ella's nursery. Sighing she reached into the crib and brushed Ella's hair out of her face and attempted to calm the terrified little girl. It was hard for her to do that when she was feeling nothing but frustration and helplessness.

"Ella go back to sleep baby, mommy's here." Krisalyn sleepily whispered to her toddler.

"House is clear." Nick said yawning as he walked into the room.

"This is getting ridiculous." Krisalyn said as she eventually gave up and handed her gun to Nick before lifting Ella out of her crib and cradling her in her arms.

"I don't get it. That alarm has never done this before." Nick said as he sighed.

"Well something is tripping the alarm." Krisalyn said yawning herself as she settled into a rocking chair. She stroked Ella's back as she rocked back and forth trying not to put herself to sleep while putting her daughter to sleep.

"I checked outside, and throughout the house. There is no one around and no sign that anyone attempted to get into the house." Nick said as he leaned against the wall.

"In a minute I am going to pack some stuff and go stay at a hotel. I need to get some sleep Nick." Krisalyn said trying desperately to calm down the hysterical child in her arms.

"I know so do I. I have to go to work tomorrow, at least you get some time off." A grumpy Nick pointed out.

"Right, taking care of a terrified and injured toddler is definitely going to be a great day off." Krisalyn snapped back.

"Okay let's just…" Nick trailed off as the phone rang.

Krisalyn watched as Nick left the room and sighed as she realized she was being unreasonable when it came down to what was happening with the alarm. It wasn't Nick's fault that the alarm was acting wacky. She arched her brow when Nick came back in the room with cordless and a frown on his face.

"What?" Krisalyn asked arching her brow.

"Another hang up, this is just getting ridiculous." Nick said as he set the phone down on the dresser. "She seems to be calming down a little." He said pointing at Ella who was starting to stop her crying.

"Yeah, I just hope the alarm doesn't go off again." Krisalyn said and then winced as it went off at the end of her sentence. Ella started up fully again and Krisalyn held her hand out for her gun so Nick could go deal with the alarm.

* * *

A couple of hours later the two of them had packed their bags and some stuff for Ella and headed away from Nick's house. They both knew there was something wrong at the house but they weren't sure what it was. Nick had called Grissom and told him about the night's events and he said that the team would scan the house the next morning.

"Finally a chance at some peace and quiet." Krisalyn sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed and glanced over at Nick who was setting up the portable crib they had brought along for Ella.

"You know we are eventually going to be heading back to the house." Nick said as he finally got the crib together and walked over to pick up his sleeping daughter from Krisalyn's arms.

"Yeah but hopefully by then we will know what was causing the commotion with the alarm don't you think?" Krisalyn asked cocking her head to one side.

"Well I guess we will find out once Grissom and Catherine go over the house." Nick said shrugging after he had set Ella down in her crib.

"I feel bad that Catherine can't be with Warrick right now. It's where she should be and it's where he needs her to be." Krisalyn said as she flopped back on the hotel room king sized bed.

"Well I think honestly right now everyone is just trying to think of how they are going to find this monster." Nick said as he walked over and sat down next to her.

"I just hope that this whole thing is over and soon." Krisalyn whispered as she stared at the ceiling above her.

* * *

He was getting more and more impatient as he realized his plan backfired. He underestimated the two CSI's inside the house. He had watched them leave and had felt his blood boiling to no end. So everyone thought they could outsmart him did they? He would make sure that they all paid dearly for trying to make him look like a fool. He wasn't sure who his next target was going to be but he had feeling that it was going to be someone that they would mourn. He felt a grin starting to appear on his face and knew that the time had come for him to make the attack that would certainly cause uproar at the Las Vegas Police Department. There wasn't a soul alive who could match him and he was about to show the world that he was the evilest person walking the planet.

* * *

Krisalyn sat bolt upright in bed and felt the sweat dripping down her face. She was drenched in sweat and she couldn't recall what had caused the immediate awakening but she had a feeling whatever it was, was really bad. Gulping Krisalyn glanced over and saw Nick fast asleep beside her and then she glanced at the crib where Ella was still sleeping soundly.

"Something is wrong." She whispered to herself as she bit her bottom lip nervously. She had a feeling something deadly was about to happen.

* * *

Grissom was sitting with Sara in Warrick's hospital room. They had sent Catherine home so she could tend to Lindsey. Grissom could tell by the look on Sara's face that something was really bothering her and he wanted to step in and try to help but he also knew Sara well enough to know whatever was going on in her head she wanted to leave it there. He glanced up at the door as it opened and saw Greg walking in with some coffee. He had to hand it to the young member of the team; he had been stepping up a lot more lately.

"So any change in his condition?" Greg asked arching an eyebrow.

"Nope, no change at all." Sara said shaking her head as she leaned back into the chair she was sitting in. "I keep thinking that we are all going to wake up and this is going to be some really horrible nightmare. We're CSI's who solve major crimes and we have no clue who it is that is tormenting our team or who took out one of our own!"

"I know it almost seems like someone is trying to prove a point doesn't it?" Greg asked completely unaware of the implications of what he had said.

"That's it." Grissom said snapping his fingers. "This has nothing to do with us as people but proving to us as CSI's that we don't know everything. Whoever this person is, is trying to prove a point and we need to figure out what caused them to hate our job so much."

"You really think it's that simple?" Sara asked as she leaned forward in her chair.

"I really think so. Greg call the uniform back in here to guard Warrick, we need to head back to the lab." Grissom said as he got to his feet.

"Aren't we sweeping Nick's house?" Sara asked as she got to her feet.

"No, let's ask Catherine to take Brass over there and deal with it. Right now we have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time. We also need to see if we can get a hold of Nick and ask him to come in. Krisalyn is on leave but Nick isn't." Grissom said as he left the room.

* * *

Nick was yawning as he walked into the lab a couple of hours later. He noticed JJ standing in the doorway to the conference room giving him the once over and he rolled his eyes. There was something about that woman that was giving him the creeps. He wouldn't be surprised to learn that she was involved in everything that had happened in Las Vegas recently. He walked to Grissom's office and knocked before entering at the sound of his supervisor's voice.

"Hey find out anything yet?" Nick asked sitting across from him.

"Nope which is why we need all the eyes we can get on this case. We got loaned a couple of day shift people to help out." Grissom said as he handed Nick as a stack of folders.

"How do you know you're looking in the right place?" Nick asked confused.

"I don't." Grissom said simply.

* * *

He watched as one of the female CSI's entered the house with the police captain that was always around the team. He felt the idea pop into his brain before he really knew what he was going to do. Before he could figure out a complete plan he was out of the car and walking swiftly up to the door. He knocked softly and waited as the police captain opened the door and stood there with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Can I help you?" He asked simply.

"Actually Captain, it's I who came to help you." He said as he pushed the needle into the captain's arm and injected the medicine into his system before he could react. Soon the captain collapsed forward and the man was carrying the unconscious policeman across the street to his car. Soon everyone would know that they were messing with the wrong man and they would see how it felt to be on the wrong side of the law.

* * *

Catherine was frantic when she realized Brass was gone. She searched the inside and outside of the house with no sign of the long time friend and police captain. She immediately called in a missing officer alert and tried to figure out what could have happened to the responsible police officer.

"He wouldn't have left me here without any back up. He gets angry at patrol when they do that to any of us." Catherine whispered to herself. She noticed that Brass's car was still sitting behind her CSI vehicle and immediately she realized just how much trouble he was most likely in.

* * *

He watched as the police captain finally came to and tried to struggle against his binds but it was no use. He had learned to tie one heck of a knot a long time ago and there was no way this man was going to get loose from it. He smirked as he sat across from the police captain and waited until he acknowledged him.

"Who are you?" The captain asked.

"Your worse nightmare, who are you?" The man asked him.

"Captain Jim Brass, Las Vegas Police Department." Captain Brass responded. "What do you want?"

"You to die a slow and painful death so your friends will understand never to cross me again." The man said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"It will never work. A CSI must follow the evidence; it's in their genetic makeup. They are going to track you down and if you kill a police officer it's the death penalty for you." Brass stated angrily.

"Well then I guess I better make sure there is no evidence for them to follow again." The man said laughingly. He leaned back in his seat, sipping from the coffee cup in his hand as he pictured once again how he would kill the man sitting in front of him. Soon it would be time for everyone to know that a CSI was useless to solve a crime.


	22. Chapter 22

* * *

Ch. 22

Krisalyn watched Nick pacing back and forth. She knew something was really wrong as she waited for him to tell her what was wrong. She was about to ask him when she finally saw him stop and face her.

"Brass is missing. He and Catherine went to process our house and he just disappeared. Grissom thinks it's our guy." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him.

"So now he is kidnapping a police captain." Krisalyn said worriedly. If this guy was willing to kidnap a police captain in broad daylight there was no telling what else he was capable of doing. "How did he knew who was going to be at the house?"

"I don't know. There is no proof that Brass was his intended victim at all." Nick said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well he has him now." Krisalyn said biting her lower lip. "There has to be some way that we can help him out."

"We've all been thinking about a way to help him but so far without any leads to go on there is nothing we can do." Nick said shaking his head.

"Nobody saw anything at all?" Krisalyn asked confused. "What about Catherine?"

"She didn't even realize he had disappeared till she went to look for him and realized he wasn't around. His car is still sitting in our driveway so he didn't just drive away." Nick told her trying to run though the details in his mind as well.

"All right so we can be sure that this guy is up to something really big however we have no clue what it could be that he is up to." Krisalyn said biting her lower lip nervously.

"Kris, I think you should take Ella and get out of town." Nick said as he took a deep breath and faced her full on.

"Not gonna happen. We both know this guy is going to freak out the minute any of us leave town. For whatever reason he has decided to target you and I and that means that both of us need to stick around and solve this case or something really horrible could happen. Ella isn't going to grow up without her father." Krisalyn said annoyed.

"She isn't going to grow up without her mother either." Nick said nervously.

* * *

Brass looked at the man standing in front of him. He could feel the blood trickling down the side of his face from the wounds on his head. He knew that he was losing a lot of blood but that wasn't going to matter to his captor. He struggled against the ropes that held his hands behind his back but realized it was useless almost immediately. There was no way he could get his hands free or even loosen the ropes. He could already tell his life was slipping away and soon he would be dead and no one would know what happened to him. He thought of Elle and gulped knowing she wouldn't be there for him. Elle hated his guts and would probably be happy to hear that he was deceased.

"Is there something on your mind Captain?" The man asked with a smirk on his face. "Are you thinking about how none of your friends are going to survive? Are you thinking about how painful and slow your death will be? Come on Captain, tell me, what's on your mind?"

"I think you are going to pay!" Captain Brass spat angrily.

"I think you are delusional." The man said shaking his head.

* * *

JJ was looking around as she walked through the door towards the DNA lab. She held her report in her hand, trying to find Grissom. She frowned when she realized it was only the people she often referred to as 'lab rats'. She walked up to the nearest person, putting on her most serious face she asked them where the entire team had disappeared to.

"Where is everyone?" She asked with a sigh.

"Well let's see most of the team is working Captain Brass' disappearance and Grissom is sitting in at Warrick's bedside for the moment. I think they said something about Warrick finally waking up or something like that." The back up DNA person stated simply without glancing up to see who she was talking to.

"Captain Brass has disappeared?" JJ asked getting more and more annoyed that no one had bothered to let her in on that fact one bit. "Why is it that no one bothered to call me and let me know which scene to be at?"

"Because no one likes you." The lab person said finally glancing up at her with a smirk.

"You are just a lab rat, what would you know?" JJ asked snottily as she walked out the door.

* * *

Krisalyn looked over at Nick and noticed he was staring out into space. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she studied him attempting to read his expression. She knew his mind was on this serial killer who now had a friend of his and was targeting his family. She tried to think of something she could say that would help him through this but she knew there was nothing.

"Nick you know that we are going to get Brass back and we are going to make sure that this guy faces everything he has ever done." Krisalyn said simply.

"He has to have a connection with someone. There has to be a specific reason that he would want to harm us over anyone else. Why would he come to Vegas to target us? Why do what he's doing here?" Nick asked thinking outloud.

"Maybe he just through a dart at a map and it landed on Vegas." Krisalyn said making a weird face. "Look this guy is clearly psychotic."

"But there has to be a method to his madness. There has to be something that is driving him to do the things he is doing. I just don't get why he would target us to be the ones to work this case unless he felt like he needed to kill us." Nick said crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"But Nick we aren't going to let him kill either of us so there is nothing to worry about." Krisalyn said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah well there has to be something we can do to make sure he doesn't have any chance to kill again." Nick said walking over and sitting at the table inside their hotel room. Ella was fast asleep in the portable crib, completely unaware of the chaos that their parents were going through.

* * *

As much as he really wanted to kill the police captain now and show everyone he was the boss he knew it would be so much better for them to worry and wonder about what he could possibly be going through. However he did need to kill someone. There was just something about knowing you had the power to take someone's life that seemed to help him feel so much better about himself. He walked over and picked up his new file and studied his next victim. He turned and noticed the captain studying him out of half closed eyelids.

"You might as well give in. It's not your time to die yet." The man said laughing at the police captain. "You should know my enough by now to know that I only kill when I am ready."

"And you aren't ready to kill?" The captain asked confused.

"Not you." The man said simply before he walked over and gave the captain a taste of his right hook.

He looked at the unconscious and chained up man and laughed as he walked out of the room. It was time for him to go and find a new victim, someone who wasn't expecting to be a target, someone who didn't have any connections at all to his intended main victim. He would make sure that the crime scene investigators realized he wasn't someone they wanted to mess with if they hadn't already figured it out.

* * *

Sara groaned as the lights in Nick's house were turned back on. She stared at Catherine and Greg and shook her head. They had found absolutely no trace evidence about what could have happened to their friend.

"There is nothing here!" She said out loud, extremely frustrated.

"There has to be something that will help us." Catherine said ever the optimist.

"Do you see anything? Have you found anything?" Sara asked jumping to her feet and pacing back and forth. "There is nothing here that is going to help us out."

"Sara there is always something. Maybe we just need to step back from the situation and re-evaluate. Maybe the reason we can't find anything is because we are looking to hard." Catherine said as she glanced around the room.

"Or maybe Brass wasn't taken inside the house." Greg offered up. "Maybe he was taken outside."

"In which case we are looking in the wrong area and the evidence is outside." Sara said as she glanced at the front door.

* * *

Grissom sat next to Warrick in the hospital and watched as one of his top CSI's slept peacefully. Earlier Warrick had come to and Grissom had explained everything that was going on to him. Warrick was upset that he couldn't help collect the evidence or help find Brass but Grissom had convinced him he was better off here in the hospital where he could be easily taken care of. Grissom glanced up when he heard a knock on the door and it took all of the patience he had remaining not to go off on the woman standing there.

"JJ now is not a good time." Grissom said simply.

"I want to know why I wasn't brought in on Captain Brass's disappearance." JJ said angrily. "Why is it that everyone else knows what's going on and gets important jobs and I don't?"

"JJ they all know Nick's layout of his house, they've been there many times. They are going to know when something is out of place and you won't." Grissom said simply. "As your supervisor I decide which assignments people do and I decided you would only get in the way on this one, so get over it."

* * *

JJ was fuming as she stomped out of the hospital room. She wasn't sure what she was going to do but she knew that she had to do something and she had to do it fast. She didn't tell Grissom that she had a lead on the serial killer case. She was going to make him and whole team look really bad when she brought this guy down and proved that she was the best CSI and then she would get Nick on her side.

* * *

He stared at the victim that he had tied up in the trunk of his car. He could tell that she was trying to scream but the duck tape over mouth prevented it. He smirked as he saw the fear that was reflected in her eyes. He reached out and stroked a piece of brown hair behind her ear and whispered in her ear all the things he was going to do to her. He took the woman back to a warehouse and laid her on the ground in the middle of the concrete floor. He tightened the ropes on her wrists and ankles and then he sat in a chair and watched her squirm against her bonds. He glanced over his shoulder when he hard a noise from outside and he frowned as he stood up and glanced over to the entrance. His eyes widened in surprise as a female walked into the room with a gun pointed at him. He shook his head at the naïve woman and smirked.

"Two for the price of one, how in the world did I get so lucky?" The man said laughing.

"You didn't." The woman said simply pointing the gun at his chest.

"Actually I did." He said as he moved quicker than she could react. Soon there was nothing she could do but realize that she was in big trouble.


	23. Chapter 23

AN - okay i know this isn't my best chappy, in fact it's far from it, but I was just trying to get you all an update. I just moved again, to another state so I am still trying to get settled and deal with that so I wanted to get you all an update so you would have something to read, hopefully it's not to horrible.

* * *

Ch. 23

Krisalyn walked quickly into the lab with a worried look on her face. The call had gone out that a CSI was missing and that no one was sure what had happened. She had quickly placed Ella in the police daycare center and had hurried down to the lab. When she walked in she noticed all of the CSI's sitting there and she frowned.

"Okay I thought someone was missing." She said confused as she walked over and stood next to Nick.

"JJ is missing. No one can find her anywhere and she isn't responding to phone calls or pages." Grissom stated as he pointed out that she wasn't in the room.

"So why did I have to come in?" Krisalyn asked since she honestly didn't care about what happened with JJ.

"Oh come on Kris, you are a better person than that." Nick said arching an eyebrow as he glanced at his fiancée. "You know that a part of you cares about the fact that a fellow cop is missing."

"Yeah I do care about Brass." Krisalyn said as she sighed. "How do you know this isn't some game she is playing to try and get Nick to worry about her and want to be with her?"

"We don't but at the moment we need to take it seriously." Grissom said with a sigh. "So everyone is going to be working around the clock to try and find her."

"I can't work around the clock. We have no one to take care of Ella." Krisalyn protested.

"Well my mom might be able to watch her for you. She is helping out with Lindsey." Catherine spoke up.

"I wouldn't want to impose. Ella isn't exactly acting like a little princess right now with everything that has happened to her." Krisalyn said biting her lower lip. "I would prefer to stay with her, I mean for so long I thought she was dead and now…" She trailed off.

"Listen I talked to the big bosses and they said once this guy is caught we are all going to get some paid vacation time off, that won't take away from the time we have built up." Grissom said sighing. "Catherine why don't you go ahead and call your mother and see if she can help out with Ella, make sure that you explain what she has been through so she knows to expect a very troubled and frightened toddler."

"Okay." Catherine said getting to her feet and walking out of the room.

"I know that JJ isn't a main part of this team and that no one in this room wants to look for her, but she still has a badge." Grissom reminded the team. "She is still a police officer who is in trouble."

* * *

He smirked as the female finally came to. He watched as she glanced around the room and then got up from her seat. She tried to move towards him but was sent reeling backwards from electric shock. He smirked as he pointed to the electric collar around her neck that was on.

"If you try and move past the perimeter that's marked it will only severely shock you. If you try and take it off it will hurt worse than anything you have ever felt in your life." The man said shrugging his shoulders.

"What is it that you want?" She asked him simply.

"To know who you really are." The man said. "JJ doesn't exist, I checked. You were never a real CSI, that's all."

"You weren't?" Brass asked looking over at her.

"Whatever." JJ said as she glanced over at the frightened woman lying in the middle of the floor still. She had been hogtied and was trying desperately to get loose.

"Why don't you tell me who you really are, who knows I might be tempted to spare you? After all you are the thorn in Nick Stokes side right now. That and you are tormenting Krisalyn so you are seriously helping me out." He said with a smirk. "As far as I am concerned you are the only one I can seriously say has been helping me out with everything."

"I haven't helped you." JJ said offended.

"Actually you have. You have made Nick's life miserable and for what reason?" The man said leaning forward. "What is it about him that is making you want to torture him?"

"Screw you." JJ spat angrily.

* * *

Grissom was frowning as he went over the transfer paperwork. He was frowning even more when he realized it was incomplete and that it had never actually been filled out by another agency. He remembered Krisalyn saying she had worked with JJ before but for some reason no one had bothered to send transfer paperwork out to officially make JJ a member of the Las Vegas lab team. He glanced up when he heard the door open and saw Krisalyn leaning against the doorjamb.

"You aren't getting the time off." Grissom said simply.

"I wasn't here to ask about that." Krisalyn said evenly. "I got a letter stating I am being requested to attend a meeting with Internal Affairs and the FBI."

"What?" Grissom asked getting to his feet.

"I am being requested…" Krisalyn started but stopped when Grissom held up his hand. She arched an eyebrow when he hurried out of the room and then shrugged and went to follow him.

* * *

"So I know that you probably aren't that in to the whole killing thing but this little girl here is destined for death." The suspect said pointing towards the hogtied woman on the floor.

"There is no reason for you to kill her! What's your game?" Brass asked trying to get out of his restraints.

"Relax Captain Brass, there is nothing you can do for her." The man laughed. "But I will introduce you all to my accomplice, yes my accomplice." He said with a secretive grin.

"You have an accomplice?" JJ asked confused. Nowhere in any of the evidence had she seen a sign of an accomplice and she had been studying this guy for a couple of years now.

"That's right. Shocking isn't it that there would be someone in my life helping me kill these women and there is nothing that you know about them." The suspect laughed. "Oh and trust me you are going to enjoy watching this killing."

"Screw you." Brass spat still trying to get loose so he could help the woman.

* * *

Grissom had everyone sitting around the conference table again and he glanced at every single one of them. He crossed his arms and then he leaned back in his seat a little before he pushed a piece of paper towards Catherine. He waited and watched as she read it and saw her frown before she passed it around. After everyone had a chance to read what was written on the paper he uncrossed his arms and studied them.

"Someone in this lab faked the transfer papers and covered for JJ. Someone in this lab knew that wasn't really who she was and that she was most likely not even a trained CSI." Grissom said evenly.

"Is that why she acted like she did? Since she wasn't a trained CSI sending her to a scene would compromise the evidence so if she became the most hated person in the lab she had to know you wouldn't let her work any crime scenes or evidence." Sara said speaking up.

"That's what I think. What I don't understand is why she would go to all that trouble?" Grissom asked eyeing his CSI's.

"Because she was obsessed with Nick?" Krisalyn suggested evenly.

"I don't think so. I think she was just trying to make us think she was for whatever reason." Catherine said as she glanced at Nick. "I don't thin JJ coming here was because of you at all."

"So how do we find her so we can ask her? How do you find someone you know nothing about?" Greg asked confused.

"We study her. Go to her apartment, go through her locker, do what you need to do to figure out what she was really up to." Grissom instructed evenly.

* * *

The suspect leaned forward and with just slight pressure he dragged a knife along JJ's cheek. JJ felt the sting and the blood start to trickle from the new cut but she refused to give in. This guy thought he was going to get to her but he wasn't. She could feel Brass's eyes on her but she refused to acknowledge him. No one at the Las Vegas lab was supposed to respect her nor were they supposed to like her. She wasn't about to let Brass into her head or into her world, it wasn't allowed. Groaning a little when he walked over and kicked the hogtied woman in the abdomen, JJ finally looked over at Brass.

"I want you to tell me the truth, especially since we are going to have to work together to get through this." Brass said evenly.

"What is it you want to know?" JJ asked with a sigh.

"What's your real name?" He asked keeping his eye on the suspect.

"Joey-Jane Rosetti. I really do go by JJ, my parents were weird." JJ said with a wince as she admitted her name.

"What is your true purpose at the lab?" Brass asked sliding a glance at her before returning his attention to the serial killer standing a few feet away.

"I can't tell you that." JJ said softly.

"Ms. Rosetti, I suggest you tell me." Brass said with a low growl to his voice.

"I can't tell you anything." JJ said shaking her head. "All will reveal itself in it's own time I believe."

"Just tell me this, are you really obsessed with Nick?" Brass asked arching an eyebrow.

"Again all will reveal itself in due time." JJ said refusing to answer his question. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw the knife that had been used on her now being used to torture the woman on the floor.

After listening in on the conversation between his other two captives he started slowly cutting the woman on the floor. He could feel her struggling against her binds and he could see the tears flowing down the side of her face but he felt nothing for her. He felt the smirk appear on his face again as he finally decided the kill her, but he was going to have to make it an obvious kill, to torment his main two captives. He walked over to his little bag of tricks and grabbed an axe. When he turned around he saw his two chained captives struggling to get loose to save the woman but there was nothing they could do as he used the axe to make his point.

* * *

Nick was dusting for fingerprints in JJ's apartment with Greg. He looked for anything that would give them a clue as to who she really was but her apartment was bare. There was minimal furniture, absolutely no pictures of her or anyone in her life. There was just something completely off about this whole apartment. It was almost as if she didn't actually live there. Like this was a go between for her and her real place.

"There is nothing personal in here." Greg said speaking it out loud.

"I noticed. There is something big going on here Greg and I don't think we are going to like it." Nick said as he looked at the small amount of fingerprints he had managed to pick up.

"What do you think she is here for?" Greg asked as he glanced up from the cabinets.

"I don't know." Nick said shaking his head.

"Nick, I think I found a picture." Greg said as he frowned and then handed it over.

Nick stared at the picture and then sucked in a deep breath. He glanced at Greg and then winced as he glanced back at the picture. He knew the person in the picture and that meant that he knew who JJ was. He bagged the picture as evidence and then he and Greg finished what they were doing. If he was right about who it was then something really bad had happened and that meant that someone had called for the big guns to take care of this serial killer.


	24. Chapter 24

Ch. 24

Nick wanted to slam his head against the table when he realized that the prints were all restricted. It was only adding to his fears that he knew the woman in the picture and that something had happened. He saw Catherine and Grissom walking towards him and leaned back in his chair as they approached.

"All right give us some good news." Catherine said pointing to his fingerprints.

"Restricted Access. They won't give me a name, address or any information." Nick said shaking his head.

"What do you mean restricted access?" Catherine said confused.

"Just what I said." Nick said spinning the monitor so she could see the warning flashing on his screen. "However that doesn't mean I don't have something for you. It just means I can't prove what I have."

"Okay now I'm confused." Grissom said frowning.

"Joey-Jane Rosetti, AKA JJ was the daughter of one of my dad's friends. She is younger than me by a few years and as a favor to the family I took her to her prom and kept the other boys away from her. I think the reason she pretended to be obsessed with me is because she wanted to get me alone so she could tell me what was going on, in case I recognized who she was." Nick said with a sigh. "I called my dad and he sent me an updated picture of JJ Rosetti and it matches. I don't know why she was going by a different last name, at least I didn't until he told me what she did for a living."

"What does she do?" Catherine asked.

"I promised I wouldn't bring it up. JJ will have to be the one to tell you this, but he did let me know I could inform you that JJ being here only means something really bad brought her on board a case of this magnitude." Nick said with a sigh.

"Why would she hate Krisalyn then? I mean it just seems weird to me that she would purposely single her out." Catherine said with a sigh.

"Again until we find JJ we won't know anything." Nick said with a sigh.

* * *

JJ felt the tears in her eyes as she stared at the woman's lifeless body lying a few feet from her. She bit her bottom lip and turned towards Brass who was also struggling to comprehend what had just happened. Sighing JJ finally decided it was time to let him in on a few things.

"Look I was brought out here because no one has been able to get a bead on this guy. When I finally got something on him I ran with it. The problem is that I had done such a good job getting myself alienated at the lab there was no one willing to hear me out which meant no backup. I called my real boss and attempted to get backup from them however they were hours away." JJ told him with a sigh.

"First off no one should have ignored your need for backup. That is something that will have to be addressed, secondly who do you work for?" Brass asked.

"I work for a secret agency called FHI, what it stands for don't ask because I am not allowed to say. We are an agency that is a branch off the CIA, our main focus is homeland security but in times of great urgency because of our training and tools we are brought in to special cases. The problem is that we don't exist for all intense purposes to local agencies so we have no choice but to go in undercover. Since it seemed like the CSI team was handling most of the investigation it was a no-brainer that I needed to be part of CSI." JJ admitted slowly.

"Okay well then we have to hope your guys get us out and arrest this guy." Brass said nodding towards the suspect.

"But then we have no way of knowing who his accomplice could be." JJ said with a sigh. "I think I know who he is, but only our suspect can tell us."

"Why wouldn't there have been evidence to tell us about an accomplice?" Brass asked confused.

"Because the accomplice is the actual mastermind." JJ said with a look that said she was clearly shocked he hadn't figured that part out.

* * *

Nick was sitting in the DNA room with Greg and Krisalyn when his cell phone rang. He frowned as he walked over towards the corner for privacy before answering his father's phone call.

"Yeah dad?" Nick asked confused.

"I got nothing out of the Rosetti family that could help you Nick. Apparently Joey-Jane had a falling out with her family and hasn't spoken or seen them in a while. She sends them money to help pay for her mothers bills but they don't know why she would be in Vegas. Her dad refused to confirm what I found out through a source about her career, I have a feeling that you will not be able to confirm it either." His father told him evenly.

"It says restricted access whenever I try and run her name or her prints." Nick confirmed getting more and more confused. "Why would it be like this?"

"Because someone doesn't want anyone to know who she really is." His father told him.

* * *

Later that day Nick decided to run by his house and check his mail, to make sure there wasn't anything in there that he would need, he frowned when he saw a package from JJ sitting in the mailbox marked urgent. Nick grabbed the package and decided to open it in his car in case it was something she didn't want him to share.

He opened the package carefully and saw an address with a key and a letter directing him to go to the address for necessary information. He drove towards the address and used the key to enter the house. Nick was shocked when he saw the posh decorated home with pictures everywhere, there were even pictures from JJ's prom with him. He walked into the living room and noticed a folder sitting on the table with his name on it. The whole thing was filled with evidence and notes about the serial killer. JJ was working the case but she had noted that someone on the inside was helping him escape, possibly the federal agent in charge of his case. She had believed that someone was tipping the guy off whenever a cop got to close.

* * *

At FHI headquarters a team of agents assembled and went over plan after plan hoping to find a way to get to their missing agent. When Joey-Jane had sent out a distress call all agents had been activated and called in for duty. There was no one out there in the FHI roster who hadn't shown up to try and track her. The news that it might have been a fellow officer who had blown the whistle on her and gotten her taken wasn't sitting well with them.

"We need to know where the leak is and we need to plug it up now." The director of FHI stated simply.

* * *

Nick sat with Grissom and Catherine in JJ's actual home and could tell they were impressed. Everything that they read in her file was detailed and very thorough, right down to a dirty cop list. What shocked them the most was that Nick was included on that list however a note next to his name said he had been eliminated from the suspect list.

"Grissom she was very clear, someone is helping him out." Nick said confused.

"So we find out who it is and we take care of the problem." Catherine spoke up.

* * *

JJ and Brass stared at the suspect who was glaring at him. JJ had to admit this guy was not on her serial suspect lists but she knew who he was. She had seen an interview with the guy and knew that other cops had cleared him, apparently those cops were about to learn they had messed up big time. She looked up when the door opened and then her eyes widened. She knew there was a reason she hadn't liked this person and now she knew why.

"You?" JJ asked shocked.

"You?" Brass repeated with wide eyes.

"Me." The accomplice confirmed with a smirk. "I just came to let you know that Nick figured out who little miss JJ here is. He notified the FBI and Internal Affairs about everything."

"Good to know. Soon though it won't matter, as we take care of our problems once and for all. Make sure you get to be alone with Ella sometime soon so we can take care of that toddler once and for all. Then we get to everyone else. It's time that we figure out how to end this with a big splash. After we take out JJ here the government is going to be all over this case so we are going to have to lie low." The main suspect said.

"Derek Michaels." JJ said simply as she stared at the main suspect. "You work for a morgue."

"Correct." Derek said with a smirk. "And now me and my accomplice are going to finish the job tonight."

"Doubtful." JJ said shaking her head. "It won't be long until Nick finds the evidence I left for him with my suspect notes. Your accomplice is on the list of dirty cops."

"No I am not. There was no list in your apartment." The accomplice shook their head.

"That's because it's in my house." JJ smirked. "Captain Brass tell me something how long do you think before your team is on to our little friends?"

"Not long at all." Brass said playing along.

"Then I will just have to throw them off track." The accomplice said leaving the building and heading towards Las Vegas PD.

* * *

Nick was looking over the list when he heard the door open and he noticed the FBI agent in charge of the case walk in. He frowned remembering the words that JJ had written about him possibly being the dirty cop. He hid the list under some papers in front of him and just glared.

"What can I help you with?" Nick asked simply.

"We want to take Ella into protective custody." The agent said simply.

"Well as her father I am going to have to say no." Nick said shaking his head.

"Do you have DNA proof that she is your daughter?" The agent asked simply.

"Krisalyn told me I am and the hospital I am sure ran a test." Nick said not sure where this man was going with this.

"They ran a test to prove Krisalyn was the mother not that you are the father. The FBI has already taken Ella into custody this was just a formality." The agent said shrugging. "We believe that you two can't protect her."

Nick watched the man leave and felt panic rising within him. Something was really wrong and he knew it. Someone had taken his daughter but was it for her own safety or to take her out of the equation. What could Ella possibly know that would make her, a toddler, a threat to anyone. Nick looked at the door again when Grissom walked into the room and he could tell that something really bad was about to happen.

* * *

"Listen up everyone we have all been pulled from the case. The government wants to take over because they feel they are better equipped to find JJ and Brass and solve the killing than we are." Grissom announced to the room in front of him. He could feel the anger radiating from his CSI's. "So that's why you can't let anyone know you are still working the case. I want to know who this sick person is and I want to find our people more than anyone else. So folks let's get to it." Grissom said nodding towards his group.

* * *

A:n – All right I know this is probably not even close to my best work but I have to say I am thinking of revealing all, including the accomplice's identity next chapter. I will give you all a few guesses in your reviews, let's see if anyone can guess who the accomplice is, and who will be the ones to find JJ and Brass?


	25. Chapter 25

Ch. 25

JJ was struggling to figure out what was really going on. She knew that there was something she was missing however she wasn't sure what it was. Sighing she glanced over at Brass and could see that he was still trying to get himself out of the binds that held him. She arched an eyebrow and nearly laughed when he groaned in pain. She could see the blood starting to trickle down from his wrists and winced. It was only a matter of time before someone realized what was going on and saved them but she was beginning to wonder if they had even gotten her message or her evidence in the first place.

"Tell me something, JJ, what was with the whole Nick obsession thing?" Brass asked taking a break from the ties.

"Nick and I grew up around each other in a way. I thought he might know who I was and I couldn't take the chance. I was planning to find a way to get him alone, with no one listening in, and tell him who I really was once I figured out he was clean." JJ said simply with a sigh.

"However instead Nick never fell for your plot and you never got your chance." Brass said with a sigh of his own.

"Basically, the truth is I have never been really good at seducing guys or getting people to care about me so the fact is that I never really had a shot at getting his attention." JJ said honestly.

"Why not true and be a normal person?" Brass asked confused.

"Because once Krisalyn came into the picture there wasn't a shot. Now the two of them are getting married and they are going to be a family with their daughter, the way it should be. The truth of the matter is that I know Nick is always just going to be a family friend, it wasn't about actually having a relationship with him." JJ said rolling her eyes.

"You didn't want to date him just have someone you could confide in about everything that was really going on." Brass guessed correctly.

"Exactly. My career takes me a lot of places and I know that soon I am going to die undercover so there is no shot at me having any type of relationship with someone, it just wouldn't be fair." JJ admitted softly.

"But you could always use some friends to hang out with." Brass said with a laugh.

"Yeah I could. I don't have many friends, in fact I don't really have any. FHI agents are encouraged to get together on occasion to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses but they aren't my friends." JJ said sadly.

"How long has it been since you have actually had real friends?" Brass asked shocked.

"My whole life really." JJ said pitifully.

"Well when we get out of here that is going to change." Brass said forcefully.

* * *

Nick was getting frustrated as he continued to try and find out who had his daughter and where they had stashed her. Krisalyn was frantic and having a hard time concentrating on her work which was understandable. The hospital had also sent word that someone had gotten to Warrick again and that he was in really bad shape. They aren't sure how he survived this one but that he had seen his attacker this time and could identify them.

"Damn." Nick muttered angrily as he slammed his palm on the table near the computer he was working on. No matter what he managed to type in nothing was popping up about Ella.

"You find her yet?" Krisalyn asked clutching a kleenex in her hand as she leaned against a doorframe with Catherine standing next to her.

"Nope." Nick admitted guiltily. He felt like this was his fault for letting her out of his sight.

"Nick I know you and Krisalyn want to find Ella but right now we have a huge problem. Brass and JJ are still in the hands of a serial killer. We find them we can probably get Ella back because she will be safer." Catherine said with a sigh.

"That's true." Nick said catching on to her logic.

"So what you're saying is that in order to get my daughter back I need to catch the man who kidnapped her and has been murdering people all over the country?" Krisalyn asked sniffing.

"Pretty much." Catherine nodded with a sympathetic look on her face. As a mother she couldn't imagine what Krisalyn must be going through. Losing her daughter and then getting her back only to lose her again and this time to a government that didn't believe you could protect her.

"Then let's get this guy." Krisalyn said evenly.

"Let's get him."

* * *

He had already decided where he was going to drop the body and stage the crime scene. The problem was about finding the right place and making it look really good. He grinned when he finally got there and slowly climbed out of his car. He had already made sure that he put the wrong tires on his car in case of tire treads and he knew he wasn't leaving behind any DNA. He was the master at this whole thing and the sooner that the cops knew that the better off they would be. His partner hadn't called in like they were supposed to so he supposed they had been captured or hadn't been able to get a moment to themselves. Whatever the reason behind their sudden silence he didn't care. After he disposed of the female victim he would take care of the two annoying cops that were waiting for him back at the warehouse. It was only a matter of time before every witness would be taken care of and the United States citizens would know he was the best serial killer ever. He didn't honestly have a reason to kill these people, which is what made him the most dangerous person around. He just wanted to kill them.

"If you only knew the truth." He whispered with a laugh as he got to work staging the scene before going and getting the lifeless body parts out of his car.

* * *

FHI agents were getting more and more annoyed with each other. They had wanted to try and track their missing agent based on her last phone in however the tape and the transcript had mysteriously disappeared. The news that the FBI now had Ella Stokes wasn't helping them out any either.

"This is getting more and more complicated. Is it just me or does it seem like everyone is starting to act more and more suspicious?" Agent Masterson asked.

"Something just doesn't feel right about this whole situation. I mean what if JJ was on to something without realizing what it was? What if she had evidence that pointed to the killer right in front of her face but she hadn't yet figured it out?" Agent Roberts spoke up.

"If she had evidence that didn't make sense to her wouldn't she have turned it over to our techs?" Agent Masterson interrupted.

"Not if she didn't think it was evidence." FHI Agent in charge Ronald Granger spoke up. "If she had something she didn't think was relevant to the case she would have sent it to herself to be placed on her desk for a later look over. Dana, check her desk over top to bottom, I want you going through every piece of mail that is there."

* * *

JJ could feel and itch that needed to be scratched and was getting annoyed. She glanced down at her left arm and frowned as she realized it was starting to swell badly. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she looked around and didn't see anything that could have bit her. She looked closer at the spot on her arm and nearly groaned when she realized what it was. All FHI agents had been equipped with a tracking device placed somewhere inside their skin. They had been warned that when it activated it often looked and felt like a spider bite. As happy as she was that they were trying to find her, she also knew that because of the different types of electronic equipment inside the warehouse it was going to be incredibly difficult.

"Hey so how do you think he will try and off us?" Brass asked suddenly.

JJ's gaze flew to the Captain's face with shock written all over her own. She hadn't thought he would give in to the thought that they were most likely going to be killed but apparently he had given up hope. As much as she would love to be able to tell him about the tracking device she couldn't do it in case someone was listening or the place was bugged.

"We aren't dying if I can help it." JJ said simply instead and hoped she had gotten her message across. She noticed that Brass had turned his head away and was now staring at the blood stains on the cement floor. "You know there was nothing we could do to help her."

"I know but I still feel guilty. What if she had kids or a husband waiting for her at home?" Brass asked biting his lower lip.

"I know." JJ said bowing her head in shame.

"If only someone had backed you up. Maybe you wouldn't have been caught and maybe our killer would be behind bars and that woman may still be alive and well." Brass said starting to feel his temper spin out of control.

JJ frowned and that's when she noticed the gas being pumped into the room. She was no expert but she was pretty sure that whatever that gas was it wasn't something she and Brass wanted to be breathing. She glanced over and could see it swirling around the room. One quick whiff and she recognized that gas and nearly groaned. She took small breaths and stopped talking all together. It was going to cause them to lose their minds. The killers plan was to get them to kill each other out of madness. Now the question was would FHI track them down before that happened?

* * *

Nick was getting more and more annoyed with every roadblock he hit. It didn't seem to matter to anyone that he was trying to solve a huge case. The evidence had been taken away from them and moved to an FBI forensics lab. They weren't allowed anywhere near the blood evidence or the crime scene photo's anymore. It was almost like the FBI suspected them just as much as the CSI's suspected FBI involvement. Nick was about to call it quits and try to find a way into the FBI lab when he saw a man lurking outside the hallway. Nick frowned and headed towards him to see what he was doing.

"Excuse me can I help you?" Nick asked arching an eyebrow.

"Depends did you want to find your CSI JJ?" The man asked evenly.

"She isn't really one of our CSI's but yeah we want to find her and our police captain." Nick said folding his arms in front of him.

"Then come with me." The man said stiffly.

"Why should I do that?" Nick asked getting suspicious and glad his gun was in it's holster on his hip at the moment.

"Because I work with Joey-Jane Rosetti in a special government group and that's all I can tell you. If you want to help is find her now is the time to move, we have finally tracked her location." The man said walking away and not waiting for a reply. That left Nick with no choice but to follow him and hope he wasn't making a big mistake.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Nick asked when they finally climbed into a black SUV and headed towards the outskirts.

"How do I know I can trust you?" The man repeated with a quick glance at Nick. "Look all you need to know is that JJ is in big trouble and we don't think that her and your captain are going to last much longer. It looks real bad CSI Stokes, and when I say real bad I mean real real real bad."


	26. Chapter 26

Ch. 26

JJ could tell the moment the gas had affected Brass. He was glaring at her and started babbling incoherently. In FHI she had been trained and exposed to different gases and drugs in attempt to make sure her body could hold off as long as possible. She frowned when she heard the sounds of a vehicle outside. She wasn't all that sure whether or not the killer had returned to make sure they were being affected by the gas or whether her tracking device had finally come through. She bit her bottom lip as she watched the warehouse doors open cautiously. She could tell that it was her team and shouted a warning to them.

"You need gas masks! It's that new experimental gas, I can't remember it's name but you need masks! Don't come in here!" JJ shouted before shutting her mouth and watching as the team members nodded their acknowledgment and backed out of the building to get the necessary equipment.

* * *

Nick jumped out of the SUV as it arrived at the warehouse and noticed a team of people putting on gas masks and muttering to themselves. He looked at the agent that had come to get him and heard him cuss under his breath. He could tell that it was bad news.

"Are they in there? Is JJ and Brass in there?" Nick asked anyone he could.

"Yeah but they have been exposed to a bad gas. They are going to need to be kept alone and in isolation." The agent that had brought him answered. "The team is going to go in and get them in a special suit before they are loaded into the isolation truck. From there they are going to be taken to an FHI facility to be monitored."

"I'm coming along." Nick said stubbornly.

"I don't think that's a good idea." The agent said shaking his head.

"Brass is my friend and boss and JJ has been a family friend for a long time. As far as I am concerned there is no discussion needed, I am coming along with them." Nick said stubbornly. He knew there was a chance that only JJ could help him get his daughter back and that meant he wasn't letting her out of his sight.

* * *

Grissom walked into his office and sat down with a frown. Nick had called him a few minutes ago and said that JJ and Brass had been recovered but were being kept by a government agency under isolation because of some exposure they had suffered. He had said he knew he needed to stay with JJ and Brass if he wanted any evidence to help them find the person responsible for everything that was going on. Grissom had agreed and told him to call and keep him updated.

"So does Nick know what's going on or who is responsible yet?" Krisalyn asked walking into the room without knocking.

Grissom looked up startled and shook his head. "He hasn't been able to talk to them. Brass is unconscious and JJ is being kept away from everyone. However he has been assured he will be allowed to be the first one to interview her."

"That's great. Maybe once this is all over we can get Ella back." Krisalyn said simply.

"Yeah maybe." Grissom said with a frown. Something was off about this whole thing and he wasn't all that sure what it was. If the FBI was dirty and someone in there was helping the killer than who was it and where was Ella?

* * *

Nick looked up when he heard the door open and noticed the head FHI agent standing there staring at him.

"What?" He asked simply.

"Apparently JJ will only speak to you about what happened. She said that there is something you need to know and you need to know it now. She knows who the dirty cop is and she thinks that you should be the one to take them down. She said something about your daughter being involved as well."

"Where is she?" Nick asked jumping to his feet.

"She is in room 1. She has finally been cleared."

Nick rushed down the hallway until he reached the room and he noticed JJ sitting on the side of the bed with her head down. She glanced up when she heard the door open and gave him a small smile.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked in the small voice she used to use when she was a kid and had taken his bike without asking and crashed it.

"No. I wish that I had recognized you or caught on to everything." Nick said with a smile as he walked in and sat in a chair opposite her. "I wish you had been able to tell me from the beginning what was going on."

"I couldn't Nicky. How is Ella?" JJ asked with a worried look.

"I wouldn't know. The FBI took her into protective custody." Nick said with a sigh.

"There is a file right there on the bedside table that you might want to look at before we talk." JJ said with a sigh.

"Do I want to know what's in it?" Nick asked glancing at the file that was sitting there.

"Probably not. But I think it's something that you need to look at." JJ said softly.

"JJ I know I said a lot of mean things to you…" Nick started but stopped when he saw her glaring at him. "What?"

"If you even think about apologizing for something that I pretty much knew you were going to do then we are going to have a serious problem." JJ said with a warning look on her face. "Look Nick I was acting like an obsessive, crazy weird chick who was willing to do anything to get you. I would have probably kicked your butt if you were attracted to me. However you could have at least pulled me aside somewhere alone to tell me you weren't interested so that I could have told you who I was."

"Did you honestly think I could have been the dirty cop?" Nick asked remembering his name on the list.

"No, but in order for my supervisor to see it I had to thoroughly investigate you to clear you. It was the only way." JJ pointed out with a sigh.

"I understand that I guess. I wish I had given you the chance to tell me the truth. Maybe this whole thing could have been solved a lot fasted with both of us working on it." Nick said as he glanced at the file again.

"You're stalling for time, why?" JJ asked him simply.

"I don't know, I guess because a part of me knows what I am about to see in there. Do you think that there is a chance that it's my fault that this guy came here to Vegas?" Nick asked voicing one of his biggest fears yet.

"I'm not going to lie to you to make you feel better Nicky, that was something I was never really good at when it came to you. This guy did come to Vegas because of you." JJ said with a slight wince.

"Why me? What did I ever do that caught his attention?" Nick asked as he jumped up from his chair and walked over to the window and stared out. "I won't be able to get my daughter back with this psycho lose and if the dirty cop is within the FBI then she is already in severe danger."

"The FBI didn't take Ella Nick." JJ said in a small voice.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked turning around and staring at her.

"FHI has her stashed away and I can promise you that she is safe." JJ said biting her lip nervously.

"You ordered it didn't you?" Nick asked as he walked back over towards the bed and stood looking down at her.

"Intimidating me isn't going to get you anywhere. Yes I did ask FHI to get a court order to take her into protective custody." JJ said with a sigh. "You will thank me for keeping her safe later on."

"I want her back JJ." Nick said simply.

"I can't give her back to you just yet. Nicky just trust me on this one all right. Read that file and help me take down a serial killer and his dirty cop accomplice." JJ said getting to her feet quickly and then sitting back down as the room started spinning. She gripped her head in her hands. She started to try and take deep breaths and closed her eyes but no matter what she did her head wouldn't stop spinning.

"JJ calm down. Just breath in slowly and let it out slowly." Nick said as he sat down on the bed beside her. She felt his arm around her shoulders and the old sparks she used to feel when he would hold her to make her feel better came back. She reminded herself that he was a father and that he was engaged and there could never be anything between them because of the agency she worked for.

Nick was biting his lip to stop from saying something stupid. He had always had feelings for JJ when they were growing up and now he could feel that old spark igniting again. He knew there was a reason they had been thrown back together at this point. He reminded himself that he was a father and that he was engaged to Krisalyn.

"Nicky, are you all right?" JJ asked as she finally managed to get herself semi back to normal.

"No but I will be soon enough." Nick said as he got off the bed and grabbed the file sitting right there. He opened and read through it before his temper started to rise and he felt like maybe now was the time to forget about the badge clipped to his pants.

* * *

Grissom was getting more and more concerned the longer it had been since Nick had checked in. He was even more annoyed that he didn't know what agency had Brass and his CSI JJ or where they were being held at the moment. He and Brass went way back and he wanted to know where his old friend was and what his condition was. He walked into the room where his team was all gathered around waiting for any word on their friend and any new information about JJ. No one was sure yet whether or not she was friend or foe but one thing was for sure they wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

"Nick hasn't checked in since he last told me that JJ and Brass had been recovered by a government agency and that they were being held somewhere. I am unaware of their conditions or locations." Grissom informed everyone staring at him.

"Have you tried calling him?" Catherine asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes I did and he isn't picking up the phone." Grissom said frustrated.

"You don't think that he was forced to say what he said and that the killer has him do you?" Krisalyn asked with a scared look on her face.

"I really don't know what to think anymore." Grissom stated simply.

* * *

"How sure are you about this?" Nick asked he placed the file back on the nightstand.

"As sure as I am that you gave me my first kiss after Jimmy Dereks broke up with me and started dating my best friend when I was twelve." JJ said with a sigh.

"He was a jerk." Nick answered automatically.

"We aren't talking about the past jerks that have been in my life, we are talking about the current jerks that are killing people." JJ said with a smirk on her face.

"So what happens now?" Nick asked with a worried look on his face.

"FHI is already in position to take down the dirty cop. After that we go after the killer who may or may not know Brass and I escaped. Until the cop is takin out of the picture you can't make any phone calls or leave here, but you can see Ella." JJ said with a smile.

"All right I just hope that your reports are accurate and that this is all over as soon as possible." Nick said with a sigh as he shook his head and thought about everything that was about to happen.


	27. Chapter 27

Ch. 27

JJ watched as Ella was brought into the room and Nick's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She watched as Ella launched herself into his arms and the two clung to each other. The only thing JJ could think of was that she would never have that. She would never have a husband who loved her or kids who couldn't wait to throw their arms around them. She felt the tears fall from her eyes and tried to stem the flow but it was no use, she wasn't going to get over the fact that her life belonged to FHI and there would never be anyone for her, never anyone who understood what was going on with her.

"Ella this is daddy's friend JJ." Nick said as he pulled away and then glanced at JJ. Seeing the tears falling from her eyes he picked his daughter up and they both went and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her while holding his daughter with the other one.

"JJ sad?" Ella asked confused.

Nick was confused about why the tears were flowing down her face. But he could tell that whatever was wrong was something she would never discuss with him. He sighed as he started rubbing her back and trying to comfort her the way he had always done while they were growing up. They had been friends for a very long time and there was nothing that could change their friendship. "JJ whatever is wrong, you know I am here for you."

"There is nothing you can do for me Nicky, not this time. I just realized seeing you with her, that I will never have that. I am destined to be alone for the rest of my life and it makes me sad. When I die there will be no one there." JJ said wiping her eyes.

"I will be." Nick said softly.

"It's not the same. You will be there with your kids and your wife, but I won't have someone who loves me the way you love her." JJ said with a glance at him.

"I love you." Nick said finally admitting what he was feeling.

"But you belong to someone else. No matter how much I love you to; there is nothing that can happen." JJ said with a glance at Ella who was falling asleep and not listening to their conversation.

"I think that I need to sit down and really think about what I want." Nick admitted slowly.

"What you want is your family and don't you dare give that up." JJ said and then she frowned. "Nicky Ella is your daughter and you belong with your daughter."

"But Krisalyn won't be there." Nick said with a gleam in his eyes.

* * *

Krisalyn walked slowly towards her car in the parking lot with a nervous glance around her. Something just wasn't right and she knew it. Suddenly she saw the people surrounding her and then she saw Grissom standing there with Greg, Catherine and Sara. She gulped knowing that there was no way to get out this one.

"Did you think we wouldn't find out?" Grissom asked with a mad look on his face.

"No one else ever knew." Krisalyn said with a smirk. "I had everyone fooled and you knew it."

"Did you ever give a damn about your daughter?" Catherine asked feeling nothing but anger and hatred for the woman standing in front of her.

"She isn't my daughter." Krisalyn said with a smirk on her face. She saw the look on the faces of everyone in front of her and had to laugh. She had surprised them yet again.

* * *

Grissom wasn't sure how to break this news to Nick. He wasn't even sure what this news meant. FHI had done a paternity test and Ella was indeed Nick's but who was Ella's mother? Grissom could see all the questions on the faces of his crew. The team was unsure of what was going to happen at this point or how Nick was going to take the fact that his fiancée was really the dirty cop. She was the one who brought this killer here to Las Vegas and she was the one responsible for Brass and JJ being taken away.

"We have to help Nick through this. There has to be something we can do." Sara said with a sigh.

"I think the big issue is finding out who her mother is. We need to know who Krisalyn took this little girl from. Who was it that Nick had a child with?" Greg asked with a confused look. "Do you think he might remember the women or woman he slept with around the time of her conception?"

"Nick doesn't sleep around so it's possible." Catherine said with a frown.

"So if Krisalyn is the evil one does that mean that all along JJ was the good one?" Greg asked with a confused look.

"I believe it does mean that." Sara said nodding her head. "We were so mean to her and all along she was only trying to protect us and solve the case. There has to be a way we can make it up to her."

"I don't think she minds so much considering it was part of her cover the whole time." Grissom pointed out with an arched eyebrow. "However if she wants to stick around here we can offer her our friendship and maybe help her get a better job with LVPD."

"That sounds like a plan." Catherine agreed with nods from both Greg and Sara to go along with it.

* * *

Nick looked up when the door opened and noticed the person standing there wasn't anyone he recognized. He gripped his daughter tightly but relaxed when he felt JJ's arm on his and noticed her shaking her head to let him know it was all right. Nick simply waited for some word on who was standing there and what this was all about.

"I came to let you know what was going on. I think it would be best if you let my secretary Emmeline take little Ella out of here for this conversation." The man said simply with an arched eyebrow.

Nick wasn't ready to let go of his daughter but he could tell that whatever was about to be said wasn't something he wanted his little girl to hear so he nodded his head slowly and then allowed the young woman to take his sleeping little girl from his arms. Once they were clear he simply looked at the man and asked one question. "Has she been arrested?"

"Yes but she made an admission that we weren't prepared for. She isn't Ella's biological mother. She confessed that the real mother was drugged and is completely unaware she even gave birth to a child. She wasn't even aware that she had been impregnated." The man said with a sigh.

"What do you mean? I should think back to women I slept with around that time then?" Nick asked trying to think.

"It won't be helpful. Krisalyn said she drugged you and managed to get a sperm sample from you while you were unconscious. They then drugged a young woman and impregnated her and kept her out of it for months before she gave birth. After the birth they slowly got her off the drugs and that was it. It was never a woman you slept with." The man said with a glance at JJ who was staring wide eyed at the two men talking in front of her.

"Wait a minute so there is a woman, who we most likely won't be able to find without the help of Krisalyn or this killer, who had my kid and doesn't even know it?" Nick asked not sure how to respond to this whole situation.

"Basically that is what I am telling you." The man said as he walked over and sat on the windowsill. "We have decided to just enter your daughter's DNA into a database and run it against every female DNA we have. That includes police officers and military members and so on."

"Run mine." JJ spoke up with a nervous glance.

"What?" Nick asked turning towards JJ with a wide eyed look.

"You heard me, run my DNA just to be sure. Remember that undercover assignment I was on that went bad?" JJ said looking at the man who nodded his head in understanding.

"I already thought of that. It's being run right now, that is why I am still in here. I am waiting for the results to be sent to my phone. I am concerned that if it turns out that she is yours JJ we are going to have to part ways, you know the rules." The man said sighing again, this time in displeasure.

"I am aware of that." JJ nodded her head in understanding.

Nick wasn't sure whether or not he was thrilled with the possibility that it was JJ that was impregnated with his child or not. It killed him to think of her being so helpless that someone could do things necessary that were done to her. He could tell that the possibility that Ella was her daughter was shocking and scary to JJ but at the same he had to think that she really wanted that, she had said she wanted that not to long ago. He knew from the look on her face that she wasn't all that sure how she felt about the situation either.

"JJ how do you feel about this?" Nick asked softly.

"I'm not sure yet. It could be nothing Nick, it might not even be me." JJ said with a sigh.

JJ just sat there with Nick's hand still on the small of her back. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle it if it turned out that undercover assignment had gone worse than she had originally thought it had. She remembered waking up from a drugged stupor in an abandoned warehouse, lying on a bed with some food and drinks lying near her. She looked over at Nick and could tell that he was worried about her but there was nothing she could say at that moment.

* * *

Grissom arrived at the secure facility with the team as they were escorted through the hallways. They had been told they were allowed inside the highly secret government agency only because two of their people were there. Sara and Catherine were going to go where Nick and JJ were and Grissom and Greg were going to be allowed to see how Brass was doing since he was all alone and freaking out. Once they got to a split in the hallway the four members split up and went their separate ways, unsure on what they were going to see on their respective ends.

Grissom and Greg arrived at their destination and were only allowed to see Brass from outside the secure room. They knocked on the glass and waited patiently as Brass finally focused on them. He got up and walked over so that they could talk through the speakers.

"Krisalyn is evil." Brass said simply when he walked over.

"She's been taken into custody already." Grissom said reassuring his friend that everything was going to be all right.

"JJ is a good person. You should have seen how badly she wanted to save that poor woman that they killed. They just killed her and there was nothing either of us could do about it. I don't think I have ever been in a situation where a woman was brutally killed just inches from me and there was nothing I could do about it." Brass said his emotions getting the better of him.

* * *

Catherine and Sara walked into the hospital room and could feel the tension. They were completely unsure of what was going on but they could tell that it was something really serious. They watched as Nick and JJ sat on the bed together and watched as a man stood by reading something on his phone.

"The results are in." The man said simply.


	28. Chapter 28

Ch. 28

JJ wasn't sure if she was ready to hear the results or not. All she knew was that there was a big possibility her life was about to change and she wasn't sure if it was for the better or not. She clutched Nick's hand and could see the confused looks on the faces of Catherine and Sara who were standing at the doorway as they had just entered the room. She then looked at Nick and could see the anxious look on his face. As much as she wasn't sure if she wanted it to be her because of what that meant had happened to her, she wanted it to be her because a part of her didn't want Nick to have a baby with someone else. She was shocked at the thought that had popped into her head and then she bit her lip knowing her feelings for Nick would never go away. Even if Ella wasn't hers she was going to have to part ways with FHI and see if there was a place for her in Nick's heart. Maybe she could find a job with LVPD.

"All right go ahead and tell us." JJ whispered with a slight nod of her head.

"Ella is yours JJ. You are her mother." The man said with a slight smile.

JJ was in complete and total shock and she could tell she wasn't the only one. She felt Nick pull her in for a hug and briefly registered that she had hugged him back but that was it. She was a mother to a toddler. She had missed so much of her life already she wasn't going to miss anything else. She looked at Nick squarely in the eye.

"I want to tell her as soon as possible. She should know the truth and I don't want her to think of Krisalyn as her mother a moment longer." JJ said stubbornly.

"I agree." Catherine and Sara both said from their spots.

"I thought the two of you hated my guts?" JJ said as she stared at the two women.

"Well that was before we knew the truth. You are a great undercover officer. You play your role a little to well. We definitely couldn't stand you and it had the desired effect in not getting you out to crime scenes but it also saved our cases because you didn't touch anything. Thank you." Catherine said with a smile.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me that understand that it was just an undercover character and not who I really am. Just like who Krisalyn portrayed herself to be was not who she was. However there is still a master killer out there." JJ said with a sigh.

"I thought Krisalyn was the partner." Sara said confused.

"She is the inside partner but not the main one. There is still someone out there that we haven't been able to find or get to. That means we have a lot of work to do if we want to catch a killer and I mean a lot of work to do." JJ said with a sigh. She looked at Nick and could tell that he was extremely excited and then JJ thought about her family and nearly fainted, Nick caught her.

"Is she still weak from the gas?" Nick asked getting up from the bed and lying her down.

"No I think it's just shock. I think it finally hit her that she is a mother to a two year old toddler and she has missed so much of her life. It must hurt her to know she gave birth to a child and never got to raise her baby. It takes a lot to know you were kidnapped, impregnated and then were out of it for nine months and then gave birth to a child and since they kept you so out of it you didn't remember it at all." Her boss said softly feeling really bad for JJ who was finally coming around.

* * *

Nick stroked her hair and finally realized all that she had finally just heard. He couldn't imagine what she thinking or going through. It must hurt her terribly to know she wasn't there for her child the way she should have been able to be and then to know that a serial killer was acting like a mother to her baby that must be the nail in the coffin.

* * *

Catherine was staring at the two of them and finally saw it. She could tell they were meant for each other. He never saw Nick as caring or loving with Krisalyn as he was with JJ. He was slowly stroking her hair back and seemed sorry that he had allowed their daughter around that woman for as long as he did. It almost seemed like he was sorry that he chose that woman over the right one for him. Catherine could tell that these two were going to end up together and were going to be the two that got married.

"I hate to be the one to bring this up but there is an appointment at a chapel to get married next week and I think you two should keep it. Just go and get the marriage license you were supposed to get with Krisalyn and then marry the right woman this time. You could even invite your families up if you wanted to." Catherine said getting into it.

"No." JJ said at once. "My family isn't coming anywhere near my child, ever." JJ was very firm as she said it and then glanced at Nick. "You can invite your family if you swear that your family won't say anything to mine and you know how hard that will be since our dads are friends. Nick I don't want my family around and when I am feeling stronger and have gotten to know my little girl I will explain to you why but please understand that I can't have them up here." JJ begged evenly as she looked at Nick with pleading in her eyes and suddenly she wasn't the strong FHI agent but she was the little JJ that used to follow him all around wanting a friend around.

"Okay considering you always have had a good reason for the things you say I am going to assume that something really bad happened between you and your family. Besides there is still a killer on the loose and that means that we can't really put anymore people at risk then necessary. My family doesn't need to come up here. We can had a big wedding later and they can come then and at that time I expect to know why you can't have your family around our child." Nick said with a sigh that gave JJ the comfort that she needed.

"Our child, I don't think when we were little we ever thought we would have a child together." JJ said softly it just seemed so weird.

"Now we are going to end up having more than one. Once we are married we are really married. We are going to have a big family just like you always said you wanted." Nick said with a smile.

"You remember what I said I wanted when we were younger?" JJ asked a little shocked.

Nick grabbed her hand and then used the other one to stroke her hair back making Catherine and Sara a little uncomfortable. "Of course I remember. I also remember you asked me if I ever married who would be my dream girl and I never answered you. I want to answer you now. You would be my dream girl JJ." Nick said with a smile as he leaned forward and kissed her.

"I am going to have them bring Ella back in so you may tell her." Her boss said before leaving the room and making it clear they should get ready to tell a toddler that her real mother was JJ and not Krisalyn.

"This is going to be fun." Nick said sarcastically as he groaned and rolled his eyes. Toddlers didn't understand things the way older kids and adults did and so it was going to be really hard to get her to understand.

* * *

Grissom was staring at his old friend Brass and wasn't sure what he was supposed to think. His friend was trying to recover from the poisonous gas that had been released into the air that he had breathed in a little to heavily. Grissom wasn't allowed in the room to see him because he was still trying to recover from the exposure so he was staring at his friend through a glass window. He vowed to get the remaining killer and he was going to make him pay for everything he had done. He had turned his team upside down and caused them to be nicer to a killer than a real person. That was going to be one of his main motivations for taking down this serial killer. That and all the victims who lost their lives for no reason at all to this guy and his friends, they had two down and one to go.

* * *

JJ was nervous as Ella walked in with her boss. When Ella ran to her dad it made her want to cry because she hoped that one day she would trust her enough to run to her like that. She wondered if Krisalyn had done enough damage to where Ella would never want to call her mommy even if she was her mother. JJ watched as Nick set her in between us.

"Honey there are a couple of things I need to tell you. Do you think you can listen to daddy for a few minutes?" Nick asked his toddler daughter.

Ella nodded her head and was swinging her legs back and forth on the bed. She was staring at all the people around her and for some reason she started snuggling next to JJ.

Nick was watching his daughter and smiled. She felt comfortable with JJ and that was a good thing but would she feel the same way when she found out the truth.

"Honey Krisalyn wasn't your mother." He said not wanting to say it all at once.

"I know. She told me she stole me from my mommy and that my mommy didn't know about me and would never find me." Ella said simply shocking everyone in the room. "She made me call her mommy but I didn't want to because she was mean."

"I am sorry and you never have to call her mommy again. How would you feel if I found your mommy?" Nick asked her with a smile.

"Did you find my mommy?" Ella asked seeming wise beyond her two years.

"Yes honey, I am your mommy." JJ said finally speaking up and then wincing thinking that it make Ella mad or she wouldn't want her to be her mommy.

"You're my mommy? Yay!" Ella yelled and then climbed up and started jumping up and down on the bed. "I have a mommy!" She was yelling as she jumped up and down.

"Sweetheart let's not jump on the bed, mommy is still a little sore from the bad guys that hurt her." Nick said pulling his daughter gently down so she was once again sitting in between the two of them.

"Are you happy that I am your mommy?" JJ asked the obvious question.

"Yea!" Ella yelled with joy and happiness.

* * *

They left the CSI unguarded again and if he really wanted to he could kill him but that was not part of his plan. He was going to make sure that his captured friends were released he needed a hostage and he would find one that they would trade for. He was getting angry at the thought that the two of them had been outsmarted. He would take care of business and he would make them pay.


	29. Chapter 29

Ch. 29

JJ was watching Ella who was asleep lying next to her on the bed. JJ was enjoying having her young toddler curled into her side. She glanced over and saw that Nick was watching her intently. She saw him smile as he was leaning back in the chair next to her bed. She was ordered to stay in the room for at least another day or two, despite the fact that they understood it was only to make sure she was strong enough and healthy enough to be out of the hospital wing, they really resented being told to stay there. However they both agreed that if JJ was going to have to stay there then they wanted Ella to stay there and Nick was definitely not going anywhere. JJ was worried though, the main killer was still on the loose and there was no telling who his next victim was going to be.

"She looks so peaceful when she is asleep. You could hardly tell that she has been through so much in her short little life." JJ said in a soft whisper like voice.

"I know. I just wish she had never been exposed to a woman like that. I wish I knew who this killer was so I could show him what I think of people messing with the people I love and care about the most." Nick said with an angry growl.

"You didn't love me at the time." JJ said with a smile on her face.

"I have always loved you JJ, I just never thought it was a welcome type of love. I figured being older and all that you wouldn't want me to love you or want a life with me." Nick confessed with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well your instincts were completely off there." JJ said with a sigh. "I wish she didn't have a story like she does. When she gets older she is going to find out that she wasn't even conceived the natural way, not even the new age way. You and I never even wanted to have a baby together at the time. I didn't even know I had been pregnant or had a baby."

"Well, at least we know now. I am so glad that you are her mother JJ. I am not happy about what happened to you, what they did to you. But I am glad that they used my sperm and that you are the one who carried my child and gave birth to my child." Nick said as he leaned forward and grabbed her hand.

"Well honestly, I am glad that they used your sperm because I don't think I could have handled this without you by my side Nick." JJ said as she gently moved a stray piece of hair out her daughter's face.

* * *

Catherine was studying Nick and JJ through the window. She could tell that the two of them loved each other, probably had for a long time. She knew that the fact that they were parents together and that they had a common goal in life, to raise their daughter and keep her safe from harm. Catherine was worried that she was never going to have the happiness that she could tell Nick and JJ were trying to achieve with each other. She was happy as her relationship with Warrick started to grow, and she loved her daughter with everything that she felt inside her. Lindsay was a handful all the time, she was a teenager after all, but she loved her with everything that was inside her. As a mother Catherine couldn't imagine what it would feel like to know that a serial killer and a horrible person had been raising your child, a child you didn't even know you had because you had been drugged and your body had been used without your permission. A mother's womb was special and it had been used like a cheap rental motel. Catherine could tell though that the end result was something that JJ and Nick were happy with.

* * *

Sara was sitting up in bed. Lying next to her, fast asleep, was Grissom. He had been having trouble sleeping a lot lately and so when she had watched him fall asleep she had been thrilled. Now she was watching him closely as he started tossing and turning, mumbling and talking in his sleep. She could hear him talk about Brass and begging him to be all right. She knew that Brass and Grissom were close friends and the thought that his best friend was in such bad shape and possibly in a position to die, that had to be slowly eating away at Grissom on the inside. Sara was trying to think of anything she could say or do that would make him feel better. Even worse, Warrick was still in the hospital struggling to recover from his own injuries and that was eating away at Grissom at the same time. She knew he cared about every member of the team, even the traitor Krisalyn, with everything inside of him. He treated all of them like they were a member of his family, a family he loved so dearly that he would give up everything he had to protect them. Sara had to find a way to help Grissom before he let this whole thing eat him up inside.

* * *

He was sitting there and staring at the plans he had been making for so long. He was down his two helpers and that was making him so angry. The cops had survived and now JJ was back with Nick Stokes and they now knew that Ella was their kid. He had worked so hard to keep all this from them, he had worked so hard to keep them apart and now he had heard they might be talking about marriage. He wasn't going to allow that to happen, he wasn't going to allow anyone to be happy if he couldn't be happy. They all thought they were so cool with their badges and their lovers but he was going to show them. He was so much smarter than those CSI bozo's and he was going to make them all look like fools. Warrick Brown was struggling to get over his injuries in the hospital. The guard had been placed back on him and it had been increased. They were talking about moving him into a federal protective custody room and he knew then he wouldn't get to touch the down CSI but Warrick Brown wasn't the one he wanted out of the way the most. He knew that Captain Brass was holding his own after the gas had gotten to him and that JJ had managed to turn out just fine. She was even going to be released as soon as they thought she was ready.

* * *

JJ was the one he wanted out of the way the most. He needed to find out a way to get her out of the way. Nick and JJ had been thorns in his side for way to long. He knew that JJ had nearly exposed him and had nearly found out his identity not to long ago. He wondered if she knew that she had his name on a piece of paper somewhere. She did have his name on her suspect list, he knew she just didn't know it. How she had even gotten close enough to suspect him was something he didn't understand. He would find her suspect list and make sure he was no longer on there, he had to make sure she had eliminated him as a suspect, because then he would be able to take her out and no one would even look in his direction.

JJ was still awake a few hours later. Ella was fast asleep and even Nick had fallen asleep in the chair he had been sitting in. Something was bothering her and she wasn't at all sure what it was. She slowly climbed out of the bed, moving the pillows so that they were on either side of her daughter. She then walked over and sat at the table that was on the other side of the room. She pulled out her notebook, the one that she had someone grab from her desk and she opened it. It was necessary that she figure things out. She looked over all her suspects, the ones she had finally managed to get listed and what they did for a living. She then booted up the laptop that she had brought in there. She needed to figure this out. As her laptop was powering up she glanced behind her and smiled at her new family. She had always been in love with Nick and now they had a little girl together and he wanted to marry her. He wanted them to be a family and have more kids together and as she had been growing up that had been her biggest dream, to become Mrs. Nick Stokes. She smiled at her little girl who looked like an angel as she slept in the bed, curled on her side.

JJ then turned back to the laptop as soon as she typed in her password she watched as all her files and everything came up on the computer. She started comparing things and pulled up all the search fields that she could use to search her suspect names. She was going to get as much information, background, criminal history and family history, as she could for each person. As she was reading through the names she stared at the one name she had written in code. She knew that no one knew what that name was, it was the one name that JJ had reluctantly placed on her list but she knew it was a good one. She had a feeling that was the suspect, that was the killer. She didn't know how to explain it since she had no evidence to back her up, but her gut was telling her that he was the one behind all of this. She leaned back in the chair and stared at the code, she nearly jumped out of the chair when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, why are you awake?" Nick asked her softly.

"I can't sleep. Knowing this guy is still out there is bothering me. He is going to kill more innocent people and he will come after us again. He wants me dead, badly. He went all out to hurt me in one of the worse easy you could hurt a woman, and now that it backfired on him and I have Ella and I know she is my little girl, he is only going to get madder." JJ pointed out.

"True." Nick said nodding his head. He sat in the other chair at the table. "When we found a copy of that list at your place I noticed that name was the only one in code. Why?"

"It was a personal name. I added the name on a whim because of something that had happened a while ago. Nick this person is the reason I don't want my family near our daughter or near me." JJ admitted in a soft whisper.

"If this person has something to do with this case and there is a possibility that they are the killer and that they are the ones behind hurting Warrick, you and Brass and kidnapping and hurting Ella, I want to know everything there is to know and I want that information now JJ.' Nick said his face going hard.

"You already know his name, you just need to think about it and think hard Nick." JJ said as she stared at the man who was the father of her child.

Nick stared at JJ and tried to think of who she could be talking about. Why would this person keep her family away from them? Why would this one name be the whole reason she banned her parents from ever meeting their granddaughter and probably future grandchildren? Nick knew there was a lot of things he still needed to learn about what had happened between JJ and her family after he had left Texas but he was sure she would tell him once they had their serial killer locked up. The question was, could the information she was hiding from him, possibly get her killed?


	30. Chapter 30

Ch. 30

JJ could tell that Nick was debating about what he wanted to say to her. He was still trying to figure out the identity of the man whose name was in code on the list. JJ could also tell that he wanted to know why she wouldn't allow her family up here. Nick had been looking like that since the night in the containment hospital room when she had told him he knew the identity of the person whose name was written in code. They had gotten married yesterday and Nick was being overprotective, now that they were living together and were officially married and all. JJ sighed as she crossed her arms in front of her, feeling her wedding band dig into her finger and the scratch as the stone from the engagement ring Nick had insisted he buy for her, on her arm. She was worried that he was going to get upset with her for not just telling him the information but she was worried that if she told him what he wanted to know that he wouldn't believe her anyway.

"We are married now." Nick said softly as he got up and knelt in front of her.

"Yes we are. I believe that was what those vows, that dress, and the whole cake and reception was about yesterday." JJ teased him with a smug look on her face.

"I wish Warrick could have been there." Nick said with a haunted look.

Warrick was getting better. He was still recovering in a hospital bed, in protective custody, but he was starting to take a turn for the better.

"I know. I could tell that you missed having him there." JJ said softly as she held her hands out for Nick to take.

Nick stood up and then grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. He pulled her so that her body was flush against his and he leaned down and kissed her deeply and hard on the lips. His hands tangled in her hair as he held her close to him. He ran his tongue along her lower lip and heard her moan at the feeling and he smirked against her mouth. "I want to make love to you." He whispered.

"What's stopping you?" JJ asked him arching an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Nick said as he picked her up and carried her towards the hallway and then down to their bedroom. JJ was giggling as they made their way to their room, but she was trying to keep quiet because their daughter was asleep in her room.

The next morning JJ woke up and blinked her eyes as the sunlight filled the room. She groaned and closed them before opening them again and glancing at the clock on the nightstand. She saw that it was nearly noon and she sat up straight really fast. She should have been up hours ago taking care of Ella. Nick had kept her up most of the night and by the time she had fallen asleep this morning she had been so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open. Nick must have decided to allow her to sleep in. JJ was supposed to start work tomorrow, this would be her last day off since she had left FHI and had been officially transferred onto the force at LVPD as a detective. She had offered to be a patrol cop, thinking it might be fun to just work patrol for a while, but the Sheriff had decided she was overqualified for that position and she would be better suited in the investigation division. She was officially assigned to the serial killer case as an LVPD detective.

She slowly climbed out of bed and grabbed some clothing, heading for the master bathroom and the shower. After she had showered and gotten dressed, doing her hair and brushing her teeth, she made her way into the living room and smiled as she saw Nick and Ella playing together on the floor.

"Mommy!" Ella shouted when she saw JJ. She immediately got up and ran to her.

JJ had been shocked at how quickly it seemed that Ella had adjusted to calling her mommy and accepting her as her mother. JJ hadn't been sure whether or not the toddler would be all right with having a new mother but she seemed to be able to take it all in stride. JJ was sure that later on in life she and Nick were going to have to pay for some serious therapy, she was sure that the horrific images and memories were locked inside Ella's head, that for the moment she had found a way to block them from bothering her or keeping her awake at night. But JJ knew from expierence that memories wouldn't stay locked away forever, no matter how much you wished that they would.

"Catherine is coming by to pick her up. Apparently Lindsay took a shine to our little girl and was wondering if Ella could go with them to the zoo. Considering we are newlyweds, Catherine thought it would give us some time alone." Nick informed her.

JJ saw that Ella was all dressed and that a bag was all set full of things for the toddler. JJ and Nick had noticed that Ella wasn't yet potty trained and they had started to try and work on that, but at the moment she was still in diapers. JJ nodded her head as Ella babbled on about something, using words that you couldn't quite understand. JJ realized that since Ella had been kidnapped and probably locked away by her captors, she most likely hadn't been exposed to many kids or even to the language necessary to develop her brain properly. They had found some neat kids places that would most likely help her along, but it was not going to be something they allowed her into until they took care of the serial killer.

* * *

He was getting angry, he threw the knife at the picture he had managed to snag. It was the wedding photo of JJ and Nick, so they had finally gotten married. He had known that they would find some way to get married and he had known they would find a way to be together, they had always been together back in Texas, why should now as adults be any different. He was getting more and more angry and he stalked over to the wall and yanked the picture off of it and tore it into pieces. He threw them in the fire that he had going in the fireplace. He needed to find a way to take care of this before things got out of hand. He had made a promise to someone that he would. He had been playing games, killing the others as a serial killer so that when he took care of the one he was really supposed to kill, they would not be able to trace it back to the person who wanted her out of the way. JJ was the victim he was supposed to take out, and JJ was the victim he was targeting from now on.

Sure he could go out and kill a few more innocent people, but that would make it possible for the Stokes to keep their guard up. If they kept their guard up then he would never be able to get close to her. He needed them to relax, to think he had moved on or gone into hiding and wouldn't be around to come after them anymore. He needed them to get back to the way they were before the killings had started and there was only one way to ensure that they did that, he had to stop killing the innocent people and wait to kill the one he needed to take out of the way. He was trying to decide the best way to kill her, the best way to end her life. He had been asked to make sure it was slow and painful, that she understood why she was being killed but not who had wanted her dead, in case she somehow survived. He would make sure she didn't survive, he would make sure she suffered.

* * *

JJ was nervous as she finally pulled out the box, the box she had not opened or looked at in so long. Inside were memories she wanted to let go of and memories she longed to forget. She had not shared any of this with Nick but now that she was his wife and they had a daughter together and wanted more children, and they were actively trying for another baby, she felt it was time. She would have to reveal the identity of the man whose name was written in code and she would have to tell him why her family wasn't welcome here.

"Hey, what's that?" Nick asked as he walked over and sat across from her.

"His name is Michael Rokowsky." JJ said in a whisper.

"The man who was, what, five years older than I was? He was the one that our dads always wanted us hanging out with. He is a great guy, I don't think he is our killer." Nick said with a laugh.

"I was kidnapped when I was a child." JJ stunned him. "I don't know my real name but I know that the people who raised me, aren't my real family. They admitted to taking me, the day they beat me within an inch of my life. They were angry, I told them I was in love with you, they wanted me to marry Michael. He was there, he helped them beat me. I was in a coma for three months and when I came to, I found out I had been raped. The doctor said it had most likely happened when I was unconscious. Michael was the lead suspect but they had no evidence and my family refused to admit to who had done it. Without any proof that I had been kidnapped and that the adoption papers they suddenly produced were forged, I couldn't get my real name or have them arrested. My so called father bragged about how he had watched me get raped, after the statue of limitations had been up and there was no way anyone could be prosecuted for the rape."

Nick was staring at her in shock. Of all the things he had thought she was going to tell him, this was not what he had expected. Michael had been his hero, he had wanted to be just like him. Now as Nick sat there, he hoped that he never saw that man face to face again, because if he did then he might forget that he had a badge. It made sense now, the fact that JJ wanted to believe that Michael was somehow behind the murders. He wanted to believe that there was something they could put him in jail for to, but that didn't mean that it was true.

"Just because you want to be able to lock him in jail, it doesn't mean we can falsely accuse him." Nick said softly.

"I know that, it's the reason his name is in code. I have a feeling about this one Nick. When I was released from the hospital and victim's rights group took me in, got me away from my so called family, I was warned that I would be killed one day, in a brutal way. I was warned that no one would know that I was the target that there would be no evidence and no one would know the real reason behind my death. They told me it would be slow and painful and that I would be begging for forgiveness and mercy, unless I gave in and agreed to do everything they wanted. I haven't spoken to those people since the group took me away and kept me hidden from them." JJ informed him. "Your father saw me in the hospital and I was to ashamed to tell him everything. He asked me to tell him what I remembered about what happened and I told him I couldn't do that."

"My father would be on your side in this one." Nick told her. "I want to call them and tell them everything, about you and me being married, about Ella and about what happened back then. Let me call them." He said in a pleading tone.

JJ wasn't sure how to respond or what to say. She wanted Nick to be happy and she knew he was close with his family and he loved them. She was torn in different directions and she wasn't sure where to go from there. She was so lost and so confused, but the one thing she did notice, Nick was on her side and he believed her without questioning her, she now knew that he was hers and that he loved her enough to believe her no matter what it would cost him.


	31. Chapter 31

authors Note: Thx loyal fans for reading and reviewing, it means the world to me. I am srry it has taken so long to update but I am battling health issues and we are getting ready to move, again. I am a little freaked at the thought of cancer being a possiblity, but hopefully the biopsy will come back negative. Please keep reading and reviewing and I will try and update sooner, rather than later from now on.

Thx fans!

Krissy

* * *

Chapter 31

JJ was staring at Nick, knowing he was waiting for her to answer him about him calling his family to let them know about the marriage their son had just entered into, as well as about Ella and about the fact that Ella was JJ and Nick's daughter. She bit her bottom lip nervously and watched as he eyed her, almost like he was willing her to hurry up and give him the answer that he wanted. Sighing she got up and started pacing back and forth, glancing over at her husband every once and again. Finally she stopped and put her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side and slowly nodded her head.

She watched as Nick smiled widely and he walked over to her and kissed her slowly and deeply on the lips. He pulled her flush against him and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held onto her hips.

"Thank you baby." Nick said with a huge smile. "I know that my family is going to be thrilled and if you want us to work towards finding out who you are really and where you belong, besides here with me and our daughter and any future babies we might have together, then I can hire a private investigator or ask my dad to do some digging." Nick told her as he lifted one hand and light brushed a strand of hair behind her left ear.

"No, I am fine with being who I am right now. I think if we started dredging up a long buried past, it's only going to open up a carton of snakes and make things so much easier for things to go real bad for us." JJ said as she briefly shook her head.

"All right then." Nick said as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I still can't believe you are my wife and I am your husband. I can't believe we have a toddler together and I can't believe that we are going to be spending the rest of our lives together like I always wanted when we were growing up." Nick said excitedly.

"You can't believe it? I can't believe it. I had the biggest crush on you when we were growing up, everyone knew it and everyone teased me non stop about it. They thought it was so funny that I would get so upset whenever you got a new girlfriend or went out on a date. When I finally went through puberty, I thought you might notice me and give me a chance, maybe tell me that you thought I was hot and ask me out on a date." JJ admitted with a slight blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Hmmm… I did notice you, I noticed you all the time." Nick told her. "I just didn't think you noticed me."

"Everyone noticed you Nick, you were Mr. Popular." JJ teased as she kissed him lightly on the lips and went to pull away but he refused to let her pull away and he deepened the kiss and moaned as his tongue speared into her mouth and started dueling with her own tongue. Pretty soon they broke apart and JJ winked at him. "You are going to have to wait till tonight for more than that." She said and a quick glance down showed that he was indeed reacting to the feeling of her lips on his.

Nick was also smirking and a quick glance down at herself also showed her own reaction, she just shrugged and turned and walked away, leaving Nick to phone his family back in Texas, the very thing he was going to do anyway.

* * *

Warrick was sitting up now. He had started to eat solid food again and he was awake, something that meant a lot to everyone close to him that came to see him. Greg had been the last one in the room and he had told Warrick that JJ was actually on the good side and that she and Nick had a daughter together, the toddler was never Krisalyn's but it was JJ's and the whole story would be explained later on. The big deal was that Ella was finally with both of her real parents and they were married and living together. JJ had turned out to be an undercover federal agent and she left the federal branch she was in and had transferred officially to Las Vegas Police Department, Metro really, and was a detective. Warrick had been shocked at the turn events, even learning that Krisalyn was in on the whole thing and she was the one that had been steering the team in the wrong direction, pretending to do the right things so that she would get close to everyone and she was the one that had leaked valuable information out to their killer, who for some reason, was still sticking around.

Warrick looked up as the door opened again and he smiled as Catherine walked into the room, and she seemed relieved to see him awake. She set some things aside and he could tell that she was exhausted and possibly spending her time off with him, instead of sleeping like she needed to.

"Shouldn't you be catching a few hours of sleep?" Warrick asked her with a major frown on his face.

"I couldn't stand the thought of you waking up in here without someone to talk to you or someone to be in here with you and try and harm you without you able to defend yourself and with your bodyguards unable to get to you or completely unaware that you were in any type of trouble." Catherine informed him as she sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"Well, I guess I should be flattered that you are taking every precaution that you can." Warrick said as he watched the blush creep into her cheeks as she listened to what he said and the knowing look that entered into his eyes.

* * *

Grissom and Sara were sitting in the lab with Greg. The three of them were trying to find something in all of their evidence that might be the proverbial smoking gun and bring down the serial killer, ending his tirade once and for all. Grissom knew that everyone was taking this case personal because this killer was a cop killer and because people in this lab and in the police officers were attacked and nearly killed. The fact that the killer had gotten a mole inside their organization really upset everyone, this wasn't something they enjoyed hearing about. They didn't like the thought that this killer could come into their world and get to their friends and fellow cops, they were all like one big happy family and so they had to protect the family and bring this guy to justice, keeping him away from everyone and praying he didn't do anything that could cost them the lives of innocents, the kids.

"There has to be something we are missing in all of this!" Greg said frustrated as he got to his feet and started pacing back and forth. He took turns glaring between the board and the evidence sitting on the table in front of him.

"Greg, we all need to be patient. If there isn't anything here, in this group of evidence, then there has to be other evidence that we don't see yet, or the evidence we will collect when we go to whatever new crime scene that turns up." Grissom told his young CSI who was eager to take down this serial killer, just like everyone else.

"But who will it be this time? JJ is one of us now, she is married to Nick and is an official part of this department, part of our family. Nick won't survive it if something happens to his wife or his daughter, he can't stand to lose her and she can't stand to lose him. Grissom, I have a really bad feeling, and I mean a really bad feeling about this whole thing." Sara said biting her lower lip nervously as she glanced between her supervisor and the young CSI who was always eager to please his mentor.

"I know Sara, which means all we can do is be there for our friends and hope that we can find out who is behind this, before he finally manages to take out the people we care about the most." Grissom said with a sigh.

* * *

JJ was cuddling Ella close to her, the toddler had been crying for the past hour and there didn't seem to be anything that JJ could do to calm down her daughter. She kissed the little girls forehead, and brushed some of her silky hair back behind her ears. She was rocking with her and she started to sing her favorite lullaby but JJ knew that whatever had scared her toddler, had done a lot of damage because the little girl was still shaking and her eyes were darting all around the room, almost looking for a monster that was terrorizing her and it was breaking JJ's heart. She already felt guilty for not protecting her daughter all along, now seeing this, it only made her realize how much she had failed her child, she was a failure as a mother, and it wouldn't be long until Nick thought of her as the failure of a wife that JJ knew she was and would always be.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Nick whispered walking into the room that belonged to their daughter.

"She won't calm down, I am not sure what has her so scared but she is scared." JJ said as she continued rocking and then went back to singing to her daughter. Ella was clutching her mother closer to her, and she reached out with one hand for her father.

Nick felt his own heart breaking, he could see the pain in his daughters eyes and the terror in his wifes. She was out of her element here, she had not been allowed to feel her way into this whole motherhood thing, she had to dive right in with a toddler who was traumatized and damaged, he could tell she felt horrible. He knelt in front of the chair and held onto his terrified daughter with one hand while he reached out with the other and lightly stroked his wife's arm. He could tell she wasn't sure what to do in this situation, she wasn't sure how to help her family and it was scaring her.

"This isn't your fault." Nick whispered to his wife. He knew she was blaming herself, totally and completely for this whole thing.

"I am her mother, I screwed up. How could I have not known I was a mother? How could I have failed to protect her?" JJ asked, the pain in her voice matching the tears and shudders coming from the vulnerable body that they were both trying to comfort.

"There was nothing you could have done." Nick said softly. "You are her mother, you are doing everything you can now, the way a mother should. She needs us both right now, her mommy and her daddy."

"Dada?" Ella whispered softly.

"Yes princess?" Nick asked her as he moved a strand of hair out of her face.

"You and mama no leave me?" Ella asked, breaking their hearts even more, something they didn't know was even possible.

"We aren't going anywhere baby girl. You are our little princess and we plan to be together, as a family, forever princess." Nick told her and gave her a small wink.

"I want sleep with you." Ella said as she glanced at her bed and then at her parents.

"I think we can do that for tonight." Nick said nodding as he took Ella out of JJ's arms and they both walked into their bedroom, Ella cuddled into Nick's chest.

They crawled into bed together, Ella lying between the two of them as she clutched at both of her parents. When she finally fell asleep JJ and Nick shared a look, knowing that things were only going to get worse. Whatever happened to their daughter, things were only going to get worse from here on out.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

JJ was making breakfast, but that was a hard thing to do when her toddler was not allowing her to put her down. JJ had Ella on her hip as she continued to make the pancakes and bacon and sausage that her daughter had requested for breakfast. JJ knew that Ella was still scared, she had finally slept through the night once she had been placed in bed with her parents. JJ was concerned about this and wondered if the child psychologist that Ella would start seeing, would actually be able to help her. Nick had, had to run to the lab early this morning, letting Ella knew he would be home real soon. He was going to pick up some things he could work on at home, to see if he could go through files and things and help catch the killer that was out there. Nick and JJ both agreed they would never truly be safe, until this man was behind bars and out of their lives. They had to make sure that their daughter was protected, no matter the cost. They would both give their lives to protect Ella.

JJ and Nick had both updated their wills and living trusts. They wanted to make sure that they could make decisions for each other when it came to medical things, that their parents and others didn't have the power or the right to interfere in what they wanted done. JJ and Nick had then gone ahead and decided who would get Ella if something were to happen to the two of them, they had chosen Catherine and Warrick. Catherine had already raised a daughter, Lindsey, and JJ knew that Lindsey and Ella really loved being around each other, despite Lindsey being so much older she had apparently enjoyed having the toddler around.

Catherine had explained that Lindsey had hated being an only child and that she considered Ella the baby sister she had always wanted but never had. JJ had smiled because Ella was in awe of Lindsey and even now, as the shy and terrified toddler that she was, she talked about being around the older girl with an excitement that had both JJ and Nick relieved. They could at least see that Ella could show some happiness and smile about something. They had asked Catherine if Lindsey could come over and be around Ella, that it might help her. Catherine had smiled and said that Lindsey would love it.

JJ looked over to her shoulder, where Ella was resting her head and sucking on the pacifier. JJ knew that Ella was a little old to be sucking on one of those, and that it couldn't be good for her teeth but after talking to a doctor and the child psychologist, they said that they should allow her to still use it for now with the amount of things going on inside the childs life. They said that Ella needed a comfort thing, that she needed the security that was offered from certain things, and it appeared this was the comfort thing that meant the world to her at the moment.

* * *

Catherine was smiling as she watched Lindsey and Warrick play a card game in the hospital. After they left the hospital Catherine was taking Lindsey over to JJ and Nick's house to play with Ella, something that Lindsey was happy about. Even though Lindsey was nowhere near Ella's age, Lindsey had stated that she felt sorry for the toddler and everything she had been through and she wanted to be able to help make her feel better. Catherine couldn't be prouder of the young woman Lindsey was starting to turn into. They had, had their rough patches, but she had seen Lindsey overcome so much in her young life. She was actually surprised that Lindsey was already thinking about what she wanted to study in college, Criminal Justice. Lindsey had just told her that she wanted to be like her mother and she wanted to be a police officer, but she didn't think she wanted to work in the crime lab, that wasn't something that interested her really.

"Lindsey had decided what she wants to be when she is an adult." Catherine spoke up.

"Really?" Warrick asked as he looked from Catherine to Lindsey. Lindsey and Warrick had always been close, whenever she had come to the lab when she was younger, it was Warrick that she wanted to hang out with the most. They would play computer games or board games and sometimes they would just talk and tell stories or jokes. "What's that?" He asked Lindsey.

"I want to go into law enforcement. At first I thought being a police officer would be cool but then I thought about it, and wouldn't it be cool if I was like an FBI profiler or something like that?" Lindsey asked, her eyes lighting up as she thought about it.

"This is the first I heard about the FBI and profiling." Catherine said shocked. She knew that for the FBI you definitely had to have a degree from college of some sort, and to be a profiler you really needed a certain type of degrees.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure about it and I didn't think you would want me to go so far away. I mean it is all the way on the other side of the country." Lindsey said softly. She looked like she was unsure and that she didn't want to hurt Catherine.

"I want you to do whatever you feel like your heart is telling you to do. I would be incredibly proud for you to become a profiler." Catherine told her daughter, seeing that she apparently needed that approval from her mother.

"Really? You wouldn't be mad if I went to Quantico and joined the FBI? I mean I know that you all don't really get along with the FBI, and it would mean that we wouldn't see each other all the time. Even if I joined the FBI and wanted to be stationed here in Vegas it wouldn't work, Profilers usually work out of Quantico or FBI headquarters in DC." Lindsey said, shocking the two adults more because it was apparent she had been doing her homework.

"Lindsey, I understand that more than anything, but if that is what you want to do, if that is what you feel like you need to do, then I am behind you one hundred percent." Catherine told her. "Just as long as you promise to try and come home for holidays and some other vacation times you might have. I also want to make sure we talk on the phone at least once a week, no matter what."

"Well it doesn't matter right now, even going to Quantico is a long way off mom. We still have a few years before I can even think about applying for a job there." Lindsey pointed out with a wink.

"We are proud of you Linds." Warrick spoke up, the pride shining in his eyes apparently what Lindsey needed to see as well.

"Thanks Warrick." Lindsey said as she looked down at her cards again.

* * *

Sara was annoyed again. She was kneeling next to the latest body from their serial killer and Sara could see the message he had left at the scene and this time it was addressed to JJ. She could tell it was written in some type of code, and Sara wasn't sure what it was. Since the note was addressed to JJ, she wondered if JJ understood the code or if they were trying to stump them and annoy them. Sara photographed the note and bagged and tagged the note. After initialing the evidence label she turned to ask Grissom what he thought of the note and saw he was staring at something and he was pale.

Sara walked over with the note in her hand and she stood next to Grissom. She didn't glance over to see what he was staring at, instead she placed her free hand on his shoulder and attempted to snap him out of it. She shook him lightly, but that didn't seem to work.

"Grissom!" She snapped at him. Grissom still didn't look at her. Sara looked over as Greg walked over to where they were standing and she saw the confusion on his face as well.

"What's the matter with him?" Greg whispered to her, almost like they didn't think that Grissom could hear them.

"I don't know. I was over at the body and noticed him staring off into space like this. He is really pale, I wonder if his blood sugar is low or something." Sara said with a frown. She watched as Greg turned his head to see what Grissom was staring at and then his face drained of color and he too just stood there and stared.

"What are you…" Sara turned and looked and her own face drained of color and she clutched the note in her hand.

* * *

Nick and JJ arrived at the scene, grateful that Catherine and Lindsey had picked up Ella and had thought to take her to the hospital to see Warrick and then they were going to take her out to do fun things. Catherine normally would work the scene, but she realized that it was important that Ella be with someone from the team, and not left alone with a stranger that she didn't know. Nick could see how pale the three CSI's that had been on scene first looked.

"What do you think happened?" Nick whispered as they walked over to where the three CSI's were standing there arguing with each other.

"I don't know, but I thought Grissom was usually the voice of reason?" JJ asked her husband, confusion clouding her own eyes.

"All right, the three of you need to knock it off." Nick said stepping forward.

"JJ, this note was left with the body, it's addressed to you but it's in some sort of code. Do you recognize it?" Sara asked, handing over the evidence bag that was still clutched in her hand.

"Yeah I do. It's a code that Nick and I made up when we were kids. We only taught it to a few other people as we got older." JJ said softly and she handed over the note to Nick who nodded his head. They had both decoded it immediately and read what it said, but they were going to pretend they were rusty with it, they were going to wait till they weren't in a public place to let the others know what it said. "We can go over it at the lab." JJ spoke up before the other three CSI's could question them about it. "You want to tell us why you three were arguing and why you look like you have seen a ghost or something?"

"You might want to brace yourself for what you are about to see." Greg said as he turned and started walking over towards the alley.

"Why? Is there another body?" Nick asked as he snapped on latex gloves and watched as JJ did the same thing.

They made it into the alley and Nick and JJ froze and stared at the same thing that the other three had become pale at the sight of. JJ was the first one out of the five of them to move over to it, no one had gotten near the latest scene. She knelt and felt her breath hitch in her throat. Lying there on the ground were children, dead children. They had clearly been tortured and butchered and JJ felt sick to her stomach. She pictured her daughter and felt the sob that was tearing through her body, threatening to escape. She realized these were probably the children of the female victim that was lying over in the other area. This creepy guy had killed children.

* * *

He was watching them and the pale and angry looks that crossed their faces made him realize he had made the right decision. JJ and Nick were most likely thinking of their toddler as they tried to process the scene but they were having trouble. JJ seemed to be drawn to the infant child, the youngest he had ever killed. He had hated killing the kids, because kids were innocent but hey, if it got his message across then he would do whatever it took. He felt the end drawing closer and he knew it would only be a matter of time before he finished what he had started and the people that he had promised would pay, were going to pay!


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

JJ was watching Ella sleep after a long day at the crime scene and then at the lab. After decoding the message with Nick and writing out the uncoded version so that it could be put into evidence, they had both been reluctant to even glance at the pictures that had been taken of the children at the scene and JJ refused to go near the autopsy room. JJ wasn't a CSI, she was a detective, but because it was clear that this guy wanted to hurt her and Nick, they were all in agreement it might be best to have her around when all evidence was processed, in case she knew or caught something that they missed.

"It's hard to believe that someone could actually take a young life." Nick murmured as he pulled JJ back into his arms as they both studied their toddler.

"I know. I don't know what else to do to keep her safe. She doesn't feel safe here Nick, I can feel it." JJ said as she studied her daughter closely, she noticed immediately the way her brow was crinkled, even in sleep, which showed she was worried or scared of something.

"We will keep her safe JJ, I promise you this." Nick told her softly. "There is no way anyone is going to take her away from us again, I won't allow it."

"What if you can't stop it?" JJ asked him seriously. "What if we aren't here when someone comes after her because we are at work or at another one of his crime scenes? What if we leave her unprotected to try and catch him and he takes her from us, maybe for good next time?"

"I won't let that happen. Baby, if it comes down to it, then we will take turns going to the crime scenes, and the one who goes can bring the other one copies of everything." Nick suggested thinking about it. "Maybe the person who goes could video tape every little thing, including interviews with the first on scenes, maybe the one on scene could even call the other one at home and keep them on speaker phone so that they could add any questions or anything they want the other to look at specifically?"

"That actually might work." JJ said thinking about it seriously. "I like that idea, I like it a lot. But do you think that Grissom or the Sheriff would be all right with it?"

"Well, considering we are talking about the life of a toddler, I think they might not want the bad press they would get if they denied us and something really did happen." Nick said shrugging his shoulders. "I know that Grissom will be on our side, no matter what." Nick said nodding his head. "It would just be the Sheriff or the Under Sheriff that we would have to worry about but I am sure that we can come up with something that would make them see this is the best option."

"I hope so, because I don't think I could survive losing her Nick, not now that I finally found her." JJ said as tears slowly fell from her eyes, slowly sliding down her cheek.

* * *

Nick turned her around in his arms and had her face him. He used the pad of his thumbs to gently wipe away the tears that were there, thinking it would be all right if he could just come up with something that might help them. There had to be something that they could do, something that would reassure the both of them as well as their daughter that she was going to be safe and that this killer wouldn't be getting within a foot of her.

* * *

He was laughing again, it seemed like he was always laughing these days. He knew that he was starting to break them down, and he knew it wouldn't be long before everyone was torn apart by him. He had already overheard Catherine and Warrick fighting, and he knew it was because of him. Warrick wanted to leave the hospital, he wanted to get back on this case so he could help his friend keep his child safe, but Catherine wanted him to stay in the hospital for a little while longer. Warrick was stubborn though, and he had no doubt that Warrick would do whatever it took to get himself out of there. So that was one couple that had tension between them. He knew that Grissom and Sara were opposites in some ways, he would just have to find the weak point in their relationship, and he would find it.

Now when it came to Nick and JJ, that was the one he wanted to ruin the most. They always thought they were so cool, always better than everyone else. Now he would show them that they had messed up all those years ago and he was going to get even. He remembered the times when he had seen the way that Nick and JJ looked at each other, always wanting to go out with each other or say something to each other and it was obvious to everyone, except each other back then.

"I swear to you both that you are going to pay for everything that I have been through and for everything that I was supposed to have but didn't get because of you." He practically growled at the pictures he had on his wall.

* * *

Catherine was fuming as she paced back and forth inside her house. She knew that Lindsey was confused on why she was so upset but Catherine couldn't explain that it was about Warrick being a hardheaded stubborn man. She knew he was still in bad shape, the doctor knew he was still in bad shape, everyone on the team knew he was still in bad shape but not Warrick. Warrick was so sure he could handle everything and that he was better off returning to work now. Catherine wasn't sure how she was going to be able to convince him that he didn't belong back at work just yet, that he was still to badly injured and he should rest. The doctor had told him he was thinking about releasing him and allowing him to go home, as long as he had someone there to look out for him and he rested in bed. But Warrick just thought that being released meant he was fully healed and he didn't need help and he could head straight back to work.

With how bad this case was getting she knew that they wouldn't wait till he brought them a doctor's clearance note, and even if they required one, Catherine knew he knew a lot of doctors who would gladly sign one of those for him so he could return to work. It was starting annoy her how much he thought he knew, when she knew that he didn't know. Catherine knew that if Warrick looked at the latest crime scene photo's then there would be a major blow up because Warrick was real protective of children and so when there was a crime scene where kids were involved he took it completely personal.

"Warrick, I swear you are going to drive everyone to an early grave." Catherine muttered to herself as she continued to pace and wonder what she could do to make him realize he was still too badly hurt to go back to work.

* * *

Sara looked up as Grissom walked into the room carrying the folder that held the crime scene photo's that no one really wanted to study, but she knew they had to. He sighed as he set the folder on the table in front of Sara and Greg. The three of them were going to have to look through the pictures and see if there was anything in them that could give them a call to where he was and what he was trying to say with the latest murders. There had to be a reason he killed the kids and their mother, there had to be a reason that he tortured them the way that he did. They had the decoded version of the note he left at the scene and they realized that there could be an answer in that letter. There had to be something they were missing, there had to be a clue that he left behind that they just didn't see.

* * *

JJ looked up as Nick walked into their bedroom carrying a tray full of dinner. She smiled and shook her head, realizing she hadn't eaten that night and neither had he. After everything they had seen and tried to deal with at the crime scene and realizing it was extremely painful to see those children like that, reminding them of their own daughter, they had both just rushed home and concentrated everything on Ella and trying to find a way to keep her safe and make sure she felt protected and safe within their home. JJ knew that Nick wanted to make sure she was taken care of, just as much as he wanted to make sure their daughter was taken care of.

"Well, are we having dinner in bed?" JJ asked him teasingly.

"Of course." Nick said grinning, glad to see the smile that appeared on her face.

"Good, I think we could use the relaxing time." JJ said softly as they both started eating. "I have this feeling like there is something about this case that I should know but I am missing." She finally confessed as she set her fork aside.

"I have that same feeling." Nick admitted with a sigh. He set his own fork down and turned to face her. "Why use that code? Did we teach it to him or did someone we taught it to, teach it to him?"

"If we are the ones who taught him that code Nick, then this is someone we know, someone from our past. I hate to think someone we grew up, a person from our childhood could be involved in all of this, but what if that's the case?" JJ asked him seriously.

"Do you remember everyone we taught that code to?" Nick asked her as he tried to think about that answer as well.

"No, I honestly don't." JJ admitted with a wince.

"Neither do I." Nick said sighing again. "There has to be a way we can figure out who this person is, and if it is someone from our past, then there has to be a paper trail that we are missing that he has left. If it's someone from our past he is going to want to gloat and he is certainly going to want us to understand that it is them and why they are doing this to all these people."

"So we need to find the paper trail that he might have left, a paper trail left by someone we aren't sure who it is?" JJ asked him with an arched eyebrow. "Talk about impossible."

"I know, but he is going to keep killing and Ella and you will still be in danger until we catch him." Nick said with a roll of his eyes. He was getting more and more frustrated, he was beginning to feel like a failure. He was a CSI, someone who was supposed to be able to follow the evidence and take down the criminals, so why when he needed to do it the most, did it seem like he sucked at his job?

"Nick, what if he wasn't leaving the clues for you to understand?" JJ asked suddenly. "He wouldn't leave the clues at the crime scene, because the crime scene would be where you would look, what if he left the clues somewhere I would look?"

"Where would you look?" Nick asked her with a frown.

"I would look at the victims house, or I would look with neighbors when I did interviews with them. The cops took a lot of statements and some of them said there was something they were supposed to say, they gave a small message each time. A new neighbor, a new victim, a new message. What if I put the messages together? What if there is only one message and these are all sentences or parts of a sentence?" JJ asked Nick and it seemed like they might finally have found a way to catch their killer.


	34. Chapter 34

Authors note: thanks to all my loyal readers, it means a lot to me that you are all so loyal to read this story for so long. I wanted to let you know I am sorry if this chapter isn't up to par, I am not myself right now. On the 24th of Oct, this past Sunday, I lost my Great Grandmother and she was my world. It has been a devastating thing. I am asking that If there is anything that is confusing to you or you have a question with the story that you please Private Message me. Please only leave kind and nice reviews, it's the only thing I can handle in there right now with this bad loss I am dealing with.

I will try and continue updating as much as I can but there are no guarantees how quickly new chapters will be posted. Thank you all again.

Kris

* * *

Chapter 34

JJ went to all the places she could think of, and found clues at each place. Nick was shocked as they found new information and it was apparent that JJ was right, this guy was after her and so he was planting things where he thought JJ would find them, not the crime scene team. Nick was not happy to allow JJ to take lead, but she was the detective and he had to remember she had worked for a federal agency and had been on this case, a lot longer than he had been. It almost appeared that there was a reason for all of this, there was a reason that this man really wanted to make sure that it was JJ that had to deal with everything. JJ was nervous about something, he could see it in her eyes but she wouldn't tell him what it was, or what was going on, not anymore.

"Please, stop staring at me like that." JJ snapped suddenly as she glared at her husband. It was apparent she could tell he was grumpy and that he didn't like that she had apparently gotten in this guys head when they hadn't been able to. "Just be grateful that someone on our team got into his head enough to realize where to look and that I didn't attempt to do this alone!"

"You attempt to do anything on this case alone, again, and I swear we are going to have it out. Who knows, I might tan your…" Nick trailed off, seeing the flash of heat in his wife's eyes and feeling the same heat hit him hard. The lust was always there between the two of them, they were married with a daughter after all, but they had never had the lust pop up at a crime scene or the home of a victim or anywhere inappropriate.

"Do you know how hot it is that you are trying to play macho male?" JJ said softly, whispering in his ear really and then she nipped it and licked the spot she had nipped.

Nick groaned softly, feeling the reaction and shaking his head. "You are being a very naughty girl right now, wife." He murmured, making sure no one was watching or listening, basically making sure no one was paying any attention to the two of them.

JJ sighed and then a smirk came across her face, "I know I am. Do you like it?" JJ asked him softly.

"Maybe, maybe not." Nick teased before turning and walking away. This was not the place for a discussion like this and definitely not the place for the desire that was tearing through him now.

* * *

Catherine was smiling as she watched Lindsey playing with Ella and she could see how much Lindsey enjoyed the toddler. Although Lindsey was a teenager now and definitely not a child anymore, she apparently was more mature than Catherine had been giving her credit for. Sure they had their moments, the moments where teenagers rebelled against everything they thought was uncool and annoying, especially their parents, but they had the amazing moments to. Catherine smiled as she watched Lindsey explain in a calm and soft voice about how to play the game Chutes and Ladders. Catherine had been glad she had still had some of Lindsey's old toys, something even Lindsey was happy to see. As she watched the two girls playing together a piece of her felt empty. She had wished she had given Lindsey a sibling, a little brother or sister that she could have taught and played with, the same way she was with Ella.

"How are you two doing?" Catherine asked them with a smile.

"Good mom." Lindsey said smiling. Lindsey was always calmer and a lot more polite whenever Ella was around, almost like she was being a role model and trying to set a good example.

"That's good. Is there anything I can get you two ladies?" Catherine asked, not wanting to annoy her daughter so that she decided to not be as polite but wanting to make sure they were both taken care of, the way a mother always did.

"Sure, can we have some fruit and some juice?" Lindsey asked with a smile.

"Sure, which kind of juice would you like? I just made a fresh fruit salad so I can get that for you two." Catherine said, pride shining in her eyes as she realized that Lindsey was trying to pretend that she ate fruit constantly so that Ella would think it was the cool thing to do.

* * *

Sara knew something wasn't right as she walked into the other room in the home they were in. she knew something wasn't right, she always could tell and her gut was telling her there was a big problem and she knew from the way that JJ was acting, that she had finally realized what the clues meant when put together, even though they didn't have all of them there at that particular scene.

"What is it JJ?" Sara asked her. All of the team still felt really guilty that none of them realized what she was up to or that she was the good one and that Krisalyn, the one they had stuck up for all the time and tried pushing Nick to, was the really bad one and the inside person responsible for making sure that they destroyed all the evidence they could so no one could figure things out.

"I have a feeling that everything is about to explode in a really really bad way." JJ murmured as she looked at everyone in the room and she could tell that this wasn't what they were expecting to hear.

"JJ, you can't…" Sara trailed off as she realized there was clearly something that JJ knew that they didn't and it was clear that whatever that information was, it was bothering her and she could tell that something bad was going to happen and it was going to happen soon enough.

* * *

Grissom was standing back and watching. He saw Greg flirting with the female police officer that had been at a couple of his past crime scenes. He saw the blush that rose to her cheeks and he shook his head with a small grin. Greg was the only one of the team that was technically single and sometimes it was something that Grissom felt guilty about. Seeing Nick with his wife, who worked at the station and used to work in the crime lab. Seeing Catherine with Warrick sometimes, knowing how much they loved each other and would do anything for each other. Grissom also knew that when Warrick was released from the hospital he would be going home with Catherine and she would be taken her vacation time so she could take care of him the way he needed. Then he knew that Greg saw him with Sara, saw the way that Grissom looked at Sara with the love and devotion in his eyes and he knew that had to hit him hard and so Grissom really hoped that this young female officer would be someone who could help make Greg happy, because Grissom wanted everyone on his team to feel happy and to feel like they had someone they could turn to or talk to when there was something going on that worried or upset them.

Grissom sighed as he watched as another officer was frowning at something as he clearly stared at his phone. Grissom knew in the new technology age with text messaging, a lot of people were using text messages to end relationships or ask important questions or even to fool the people close to them into believing the lies they would be telling, since the other person couldn't hear their voice or see their face and wouldn't be able to know if there was a lie being told. Grissom frowned as well when he realized the officer was getting more and more upset, and it almost seemed like he was about to have an outburst. Grissom found Brass, grateful his old friend was finally back at work and he whispered in his ear and pointed the officer out. Brass nodded and motioned for JJ to go with him, just in case.

* * *

Warrick really hated hospitals, and he meant he really hated hospitals. There was something about the small rooms, the way they nurses and doctors never ever really let you sleep. Every night when Warrick would finally fall asleep someone would come into the room for some reason or another. Sometimes it would even be someone just wanting to empty the linen bin or change the trash, it was starting to drive him insane. Warrick felt like he was going to lose his mind soon, if something didn't give something would make him just leave against medical advice, which he knew would make Grissom really angry and maybe even cause Grissom to force him back into the hospital just in case.

"Come on now, someone has to get me out of here." He groaned to himself and he arched an eyebrow as his doctor entered the room. Warrick sighed, he knew it was going to be a long day and maybe even another long night if they kept this whole thing up.

* * *

JJ was tucking their little girl in that night, kissing her forehead after she had fallen asleep after she finished reading her favorite storybook. When she made sure her favorite princess nightlight was on and then she left the room, leaving the baby monitor on and the door open. She saw Nick leaning against the wall and it was clear he was thinking hard about something. JJ wondered if he had heard what Ella had asked her, if Nick had heard Ella ask if the monster was going to get her again and hurt her again. It had broken JJ's heart to see the fear and pain in her daughters eyes, to see her face become a mask of intense fear and pain, it had broken her heart so badly, it felt shattered.

"Hey, how long have you been out here?" She asked softly as they walked towards their bedroom.

"Long enough." He whispered, his own voice sounding tormented and twisted in agony. It was killing him as much as it was killing her.

* * *

He was waiting for the right moment to get ready to strike. He was going to make sure that everyone knew where he stood and where they stood. He was going to make sure no one messed with him and he was going to make sure they knew he was in charge and if he wanted to kill, then he was going to kill. There was another victim that he was getting ready to get rid of, but he figured holding onto the body and then positioning it when he had the right opportunity would be the best thing he could do and the biggest blow, because he knew where he should leave the body, where it would make the biggest uproar.

"Soon JJ, soon the end will come. I know this body will be my last and then you and I will meet face to face, and when that happens I have no doubt we will find out who the stronger one is my dear and one of us will not leave there alive, I know it and I know you know it too." He murmured as he stared at the house as the lights inside were turned off. He knew they were going to bed, he knew that JJ was going to be lying beside her husband after tucking in her daughter. Then at one point, one or both of them would be getting up to go and take care of the little girl when she had her nightmares. He was the one who had put those nightmares inside the toddler, he had tortured the little girl, he had made sure she was raised badly and although that was a horrible thing, he didn't feel guilty. He was happy that he would be leaving a last impression in this world, no matter what happened. If he was the one that walked away from the confrontation, then he would be thrilled for that. Soon he would learn everything, soon he would.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

JJ sighed as she rubbed at the back of her neck. She was getting more and more annoyed as she looked at the notes in front of her. She had opted to stay home from work that day, seeing that Ella was really scared to be away from her mommy and daddy for too long, afraid that the monster would come and take her away. As much as JJ knew that Ella had fun with Catherine and Lindsey, she also knew that Ella would rather be at home with her mommy and daddy or one of them, she felt safer at home because she knew her parents wouldn't let anything happen to her. At that moment she was trying to put together something to bring to Brass when she went back in, since she had told him that she figured she would be able to concentrate more at home, rather than sitting at her desk in a noisy police station, attempting to figure things out.

"Mommy?" Ella asked softly walking into the room and laying her head on her JJ's knee.

JJ looked down and could see she was clutching her favorite blankie in one hand and her favorite stuffed rabbit in the other. JJ knew that her daughter had just been taking a nap on the couch in the other room, having fallen asleep watching a Disney movie. JJ knew that Ella was most likely hungry by now and so she smiled at her toddler. "Yes baby?" she asked as she ran her hands through her daughters messy hair, hair that had been nice and neat in a ponytail before her nap.

"I hwngy." Ella said as she sighed, almost like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Sometimes to JJ, she felt like her daughter did carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. The nightmares she was having were getting worse and it was making it real hard for her daughter to get any rest. She would only sleep for a short amount of time before waking up in full terror. It was at the point now where JJ knew that she and Nick were going to move their daughter into their bedroom for a bit, just until she got over this fear and was finally able to feel safe and able to sleep better. "All right, what would you like for lunch today princess?" JJ asked her, still running her fingers through the messy curls and wondering where her hair tie went off to.

"Cheese." Ella said, which was basically what she said when she wanted a grilled cheese sandwich. JJ smiled as she slowly got up and with her daughter skipping by her side, excited to get her favorite sandwich, they went into the kitchen to make the sandwiches.

JJ got out the spreadable butter to put on the bread and she could out the cookie cutters that Ella loved to use to make shapes out of her sandwhiches. JJ always made Ella two sandwiches because she would cut out the shapes, she loved using the butterfly and she loved using the heart. So after they made the sandwiches and cut the shapes out, JJ cooked them and let them cool a little bit and then she brought them to Ella's little princess table. When her daughter was settled there she went and grabbed a sippy cup and filled it with milk and brought it to her daughter. Once she was done with that she went back to her table, just next to her daughters special table and started going through her notes, looking up at Ella every once in a while.

* * *

He was not a happy person, of course serial killers weren't supposed to be happy people, ever. He knew that he was going to have to hurry and make his move soon enough, it was important that he made his decision and his move sooner rather than later. He knew that he needed to move the body he had in his freezer sooner rather than later, but he was still trying to find the perfect spot to drop the body at. He knew that JJ was making sure her daughter was well guarded at the moment, like any good mother would do. It was only making things harder for him at the moment, all he really wanted to was get to JJ and make her pay, she would find out soon enough why she was the one he chose, why she was the one he went after and why he had used Ella in his little plan for so long. It amazed him that someone as smart as JJ was, still had no clue who he really was or what this was really about.

"I don't know why they think you are the smart one, I really think you happen to be the stupid brainless and spineless one." He snarled at the picture of her he had currently tacked to his wall. "Soon, real soon, you will know everything there is to know and when you find out what this is all about, you are going to wonder why it never crossed your mind before then."

* * *

Nick was sitting at the table inside the crime lab and wondering what he could do to try and make the pieces fit on this. Every night in bed he would talk the case over with JJ, but that was going to be stopping soon, mainly because they didn't discuss this in front of Ella and they were going to be moving her into their bedroom soon, mainly because she wouldn't sleep unless someone was near her and she would wake up screaming if she was left alone, so they knew it was time to move her into their room, at least until they could show her and help her feel like she was really safe, it was killing the both of them that their own daughter didn't feel safe enough to go to sleep in her own bedroom, unless one of them was in the room with her.

"There has to be something I am missing here." Nick snapped out loud.

"Do you want to run it?" Greg asked walking into the room. He knew that sometimes most of the other team members worked better when they could talk things out loud, saying them and playing theories off each other. This allowed them to see flaws and discrepancies in their theories so they could change them based on what the evidence really does say.

"Do you have time, or does Grissom have you heading out for another scene?" Nick asked him, hoping he could run it since Warrick was still in the hospital and they had been forbidden to talk about anything to do with the evidence and the case with him, especially with him being a victim. As it was Eckley was threatening to bring in another shift to take it over.

"I have time. Grissom said that he has Catherine on another case right now, mainly because she is attached to Warrick and so Eckley didn't want her near the evidence or the case one bit." Greg said shrugging his shoulders. It was a well known fact that both Catherine and Warrick would do anything for each other, and when Warrick had been taken down and nearly killed, Catherina had decided to make it her personal mission to find this creep and make him pay, however, that was no longer an option since everyone had been informed they would be fired if they breathed one word of this case to Catherine or allowed her to see any evidence reports or suspect lists.

"Well then, I say we see what we can come up with if we put our heads together." Nick said nodding as Greg sat down across from him and started looking through the notes and they started taking things out together.

* * *

Catherine was so annoyed that she was at a convenience store robbery with an owner who seemed more annoyed that police officers and crime scene investigators were in the store than that they had been robbed. Catherine could see that they were itching to start cleaning up the mess that was around and the nasty glares she was getting from the owner and the employee as well as the customers that were in the store when it went down and so were stuck there until they had given their written witness statements, was really starting to wear on her nerves, and she was ready to throw all the evidence down and tell all of them to go away and cuss them out. Normally she was a patient person, well mostly a patient person, but she had a lot on her mind right now, especially with Warrick's hospital stay being extended because they were worried about some internal damage that may not be healing correctly. It was scaring her that he may be heading for a long term rehab center to try and get some muscle and strength back in his legs when his stay was over with, he was bedridden a little too much.

"Look if you are all going to stand there and glare at me, then it's only going to make me stay here longer." Catherine threatened and was pleased it seemed to work. Everyone quickly turned towards either the police officers with her or each other and tried to find something to occupy their time as they waited to be released and allowed to either go home or reopen their store and get the business running again. "Good choice, thank you." Catherine said as she smiled and turned back to her work, she was really going to have to give Grissom a piece of her mind for sticking her on this boring nasty case.

* * *

Grissom was nervous as he sat in his office, behind his desk, staring blankly at his bugs collected around his office. He knew that there was something bad brewing and it was making him really nervous to not know what it was or what he should be expecting. He knew that it was important that he hurry and try and solve this serial killer case, especially since there were a lot of important and innocent lives on the line, but something told him that he wasn't the one who needed to find the answers, something told him that Nick and JJ already knew who this person was, they just didn't know it yet. There was just something weird about this case, about how much this guy went out of his way to engage JJ or someone else in his little sick game or fantasy and it worried Grissom to think that it was only going to really get worse before they could get a handle on things. As it was he was waiting on the edge of his seat for a new victim, and he knew that this killer wouldn't be able to wait much longer to leave them another clue and another dead innocent woman.

"Come on Nick, JJ, the two of you have the answers locked inside your brains, just find them and release them, sooner rather than later." Grissom murmured to his empty office and his bug collection.

* * *

He was starting to think that there could be another way to leave special clues with his bodies. He opened his deep freezer and stared at the body that was lying inside and wondered what he could do to the body to make sure that JJ started to get the message and try and figure things out. He knew that she knew everything needed to find him and to try and take him down, which was what he was looking forward to the most, it was just a matter of finding a way to unlock those thoughts and memories, making sure that she understood that those would lead her to the answers she was so desperately seeking.

"It's time to play another game." He said as he started laughing, and now he was really excited.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

JJ was rubbing at the back of her neck and smiling at her little girl who was smiling and running around in the backyard. Nick had apparently bought a brand new play area, with swings and a slide, and had it delivered and it had just arrived and Ella was loving every minute of playing on it. JJ could see that she was going to have a hard time getting Ella away from it whenever she needed to get her into the house or get her to leave since she was inclined to only want to play with the new play structure. JJ turned at the sound of a chuckle and saw Nick standing there with Greg. It was apparent that they were there to go over the case with her, she could see the file in Greg's hand and she could tell by the look in both of their eyes that they were having a hard time with something in the file.

Suddenly she could see Catherine walking into the house with Lindsey and her mother, and that told JJ all she needed to know, there was another body and it was apparent that not even Nick or Greg knew this one had popped onto the victim's list.

"Grissom asked me to get down here so that Ella would have someone to look after her, and you would feel like she was in good hands. There is another body, and this is the address." Catherine said handing a slip of paper to JJ who slowly nodded and went into the house to get her gun, badge and crime scene kit.

"When did this one show up?" Nick asked confused.

"Recently." Catherine said shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know much about the case remember, I am not supposed to be anywhere near anything on this case."

"Well, when is Warrick being released from the hospital anyway?" Nick asked her with a sigh.

"He was supposed to be released this morning but the doctor pushed it back, stating there was still something bothering him about Warrick's health and chart, almost like he feels there is something missing from the chart and he isn't sure what it is. I almost think he believes someone got to his chart and said something got done, that hadn't been done which could be fatal for Warrick if there is a problem." Catherine said with a sigh as she watched Lindsey play with Ella who was squealing and giggling.

"Thank you for coming down here. We feel better knowing someone who has a gun is near her." Nick said softly as he saw JJ hesitating as she clipped her badge to her belt and put her gun in the holster she just put on her shoulders.

"Hey, I would be feeling the same way. Nicky, you picked a winner this time. We all feel horrible about the way we treated JJ before, but now we can see she is an amazing person and we can see she is an incredible mother and we know how much you love her." Catherine said softly.

"I think I always have loved her. I don't know why I didn't notice she was the JJ I grew up with back home and that she was the one I had a huge crush on, something she doesn't really know about." Nick said with a wince.

"Ohh… possible blackmail material." Catherine joked, waggling her eyebrows up and down.

"Ha ha, very funny." Nick said rolling his eyes as he and Greg turned and headed to where JJ was standing at the front door, waiting for them. "Ella will be fine." Nick whispered in JJ's ear.

"I know, I know that. I just feel like it's my place to be the one to keep her safe and I am not doing my job at all." JJ said with a wince.

"She's going to be just fine, she's our daughter JJ, that should tell you something." Nick said as he kissed her lightly on the lips and then turned and followed her out the door.

* * *

He was sitting in the apartment building across from where the newest victim had been placed. He had everything all set up, including the camera's. He knew that it wouldn't be long before JJ and Nick or maybe one of them, figured out what the clue was that he left and realized he had left them a treasure hunt. He knew that JJ would be the one to figure it out first, if she was paying close enough attention, mainly because he had written the clue to be able to relate mostly to her, than Nick. JJ was smart, he knew that almost like everyone else knew that, she was probably smarter than anyone really knew.

"Come JJ, don't let me down little one, show me how smart you are and prove to me that you have the brains to get close enough to take me down. But then again, if you do what I think you will, then you might be dumber than I thought. Oh man, little girl, I am getting bored with our game, it's time that I really make you think and it's time I put a clock in the game. Maybe I can get through to your friends and your little hubby, if there is a clock that needs to be followed and beaten." The man said laughing as he continued watching and made sure all his monitors were on, he had the record setting set for motion activation, they wouldn't start recording until someone walked through the motion sensors in the specific areas and then they would stop recording when they left a certain area, he was going to make sure he got everything on tape and he wasn't going to miss any little thing.

* * *

JJ got out of the car, sighing as she pulled on the latex gloves and grabbed her gear, heading to where the body was lying just in the middle of the taped off area. Something about where they were and how the body seemed to be posed, was bothering her, it seemed familiar. Something was off, and JJ had a real bad feeling. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up, and that usually meant that someone was close by, someone really bad and someone she really didn't want to have to deal with.

"I know he is here, he has to be here, but why be at this crime scene and not the others? What is so special about this particular scene?" JJ muttered to herself. She looked around closely, looking at the faces of the gawkers that were staring, taking pictures or videotaping the scene around them. JJ rolled her eyes, wondering how they would feel if the victim had ever turned out to be someone they knew? She knew that it would anger them if someone had videotaped, or taken pictures of their close and well loved one. She shook her head and sighed as she headed over to where the body was and stopped dead in her tracks, halfway there. Something was familiar and something was off, now she needed to figure out what it was.

* * *

Warrick was annoyed as he looked at the doctor who was refusing to release him from the hospital. The doctor was convinced someone had messed with his chart, someone had done something when it came to the tests that were run or the tests that were ordered or something that was important. Warrick was happy he had a doctor that was so careful, but at the same time it was annoying him that someone would not let him go home where he really wanted to be, mainly on a hunch. He could see that the doctor had made a decision, now he could only hope that decision would be what he wanted to hear and that he was being released from this hospital and right away.

"So doc, what's my verdict?" Warrick asked with a grin on his face.

"I'm afraid it's not good. I re-ran some tests that were bugging me and I was right, someone messed with what I ordered, and so I didn't catch this earlier, there was some serious damage done internally Warrick, I need to do an ultrasound on your spleen, liver and kidneys right away, we could be in trouble if I find anything there, which I am expecting to." The doctor said with a solemn, serious face.

"Please tell me this is some sick joke." Warrick said, no longer smiling. He knew that Catherine was busy at the moment watching Ella, she had called with Lindsey and her mother to say hello, so he wasn't going to call her, no matter how badly he needed her there, Ella's safety was more important at that moment, she was just a baby.

"I wish I could Mr. Brown." The doctor said. "I am going to do everything I can to make sure we fix whatever damage has been done, I swear to you."

* * *

Grissom knew that there was something wrong, he looked over at Sara as she looked over the case reports sitting in front of her. Although there was another scene, Grissom didn't see the benefits of having four CSI's there when there was only one body. He had already talked to Greg when they were enroute to the scene and informed him that if they needed help at the scene, to just give him a call and he and Sara would head out there right away, but he didn't want to crowd the scene or alarm anyone into thinking there could be a huge problem there. Grissom had the computer up and ready to receive the pictures as soon as Greg sent them. Greg was taking pictures at the scene and Nick was videotaping it, and when they were done with that part, Greg would upload and send both the photo's and video to Grissom at the lab for Grissom and Sara to compare to everything else, and that would allow them to continue at the scene and take pictures of anything else that Grissom thought they needed more pictures of.

"There has to be something we are missing, there has to be." Sara said as she threw the pictures onto the table and jumped up, rubbing at her shoulder that had been bugging her lately. "I can't believe a serial killer can just walk away from things or kidnap someone and no one knows what he looks like or why he is doing this! Someone had to have seen something and they just don't know what they saw!" Sara said as she groaned.

"Or maybe they are involved or don't want to get involved at all." Grissom suggested leaning back in his chair. "Sara, getting frustrated and upset isn't going to help us here, we need to keep our heads clear and level."

"I understand that!" Sara said as she plopped back into her chair. "Let's go over these again until we get the news ones, I guess." She said with a sigh of clear frustration and annoyance.

* * *

JJ was sure that this whole thing looked familiar to her. She wasn't a CSI, she was a detective, which was why her little kit had nothing to do with the evidence. She called the briefcase thing she carried an evidence kit, only so no one would ask her what was in it, but it was really tools and things she needed to see things differently, to act things out so she could get a feel of things, but she had to wear gloves, just like anyone else who might touch the body or any evidence in the case. She looked behind her and saw that Nick and Greg had started working on going over the evidence and things, and she sighed. She was kind of glad she was a detective, and only investigated and not a CSI, it just didn't seem like her thing.

"All right, talk to me, what am I missing and why?" JJ said as she looked around her and realized she really needed to get to work, figuring things out, immediately. "I am going to find what's here and when I do, whoever you are, we are going to catch you!" JJ said out loud, but deep inside, she was scared out of her mind that things were about to get out of control and there was nothing she could do about it.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

JJ was staring at the scene, she was staring at the body and she was staring all around her. She moved in a slow circle, trying to see things differently, not wanting to notice how much this victim seemed familiar to her. She knew that this wasn't anyone she knew, they had already identified the victim and it was definitely not anyone that either JJ or Nick knew, but that didn't mean that there wasn't something about her that was being used to get to JJ or Nick. She had asked everyone to clear out of the immediate area, including all the CSI's and coroner. She needed to see the scene as if she was the only one there, as if she was the killer that was dumping the body there. Every picture had been taken, and the coroner had already done everything that needed to be done at the scene, except remove the body. JJ was allowed to move the body if necessary, but she had to be careful.

"I know there is something that is here, I can feel it in my gut." JJ murmured to herself as she looked around. She noticed a slight flash of something, almost as if there was a camera lens nearby. She pretended that she hadn't caught the glimpse, and as she turned she noticed a few others and realized what was happening, he was watching the scene. "There is something here that he wants me to find, and he wants to see my reaction to finding it." JJ murmured to herself, making sure she wasn't facing any of the camera lenses and that she kept her voice so low, that there was no way any of the audio could pick it up.

JJ was wondering if it would be best for her to attempt to notify Brass, Grissom, Greg, Sara and Nick to the camera's, but she was sure if they acted suspicious in any way, if she notified them of something before she figured everything she needed to out, then who knew what he had rigged up. She had to make sure that the evidence, the body and everything she needed to find, were safely away from the area before she notified any of them to the fact that there were cameras and she was pretty sure that this creep was watching the scene. She was starting to wonder if he had, had cameras at all of the scenes, if he had watched every single thing they did, at every single scene.

"It might take me a bit, but I am going to find what's here." JJ said, loud enough for any audio equipment he might be using to pick it up. She wasn't sure what it was he wanted, but she was going to have to play along with his little game for a little while, but she was pretty sure that at the end of it all, she was going to come out on top, as soon as she figured out what this was all about and who was behind it all.

* * *

Nick could tell there was something that was bothering JJ, he could always tell when something was bothering his wife, but this time it was really bothering him. Rarely had he seen her bite her lower lip, in fact she was biting it so hard that he swore he could see a little bit of blood, and he got that confirmation when she frowned and wiped at her lip with a sigh of frustration. She remembered to use her forearm to wipe at her lip at least, not getting her blood on the latex glove so that she didn't contaminate the scene. He could see that everyone, especially the coroner, were getting anxious and it was very apparent that they were annoyed at being pushed outside of the crime scene area. Nick wasn't sure what it was that his wife, JJ, was hoping to accomplish, but if she didn't accomplish it soon, she was going to be yanked out of there before she had her chance.

"Nick, I am all for having a fresh look without a bunch of people around, but is there a reason that she needs to keep that body there? Until the body moves I can't release some of these officers, and that is really starting to back up the others that are on patrol who have to cover more calls than normal." Brass muttered to Nick as he glared over at his newest detective but didn't dare mess with whatever it was she was trying to see.

"She needs to do things her way, her way works best for her and apparently, from what we know from her old boss, it gets the job done and her cases solved." Grissom spoke up, saving Brass from getting his head bitten off. Grissom could clearly see that Nick was worried about JJ and that worry was manifesting in a way that any statements that could be seen or interpreted as negative towards or about her, were going to set him off right then.

"Fine, but let's hope she gets through some time tonight." Brass said with a sigh as he walked over and started talking to a uniformed patrol officer.

* * *

He was laughing as he watched her look around her, she was confused and she was frustrated and he loved watching it. He had seen her biting at her lip, something he knew she only did when she was really thinking hard and trying to get inside someone elses head, he had seen her do that since she was a child actually. He had laughed because she had started doing it when she had seen some of the other girls hitting on Nick and she had been trying to see what it was about them that he liked, what it was about them that made him treat them like girls and her like his good buddy instead of girlfriend material.

He sighed as he remembered the old days, he still couldn't believe they hadn't thought about him, but then again it was possible they didn't think he could be capable of something like this. He knew they had thought he was dumb, probably dumber than dirt, as the old saying goes. But that was only because around her, he felt stupid. She was always the intelligent one, and she was always the one that everyone was wanting to partner with in Chemistry class or during any class projects. It was clear that she had the brains to do anything in life, why she chose police work was something that still bothered him. Many people thought she was going to be a brain surgeon or a tough as nails lawyer that eventually became a judge and then a politician. There had even been rumors that she could be the first female president of the United States.

He remembered wanting to be the one she was married to when she achieved all that success. He had been picturing all the things they could buy with the money she would be making, he even remembered thinking about the kids they would have, the ones that would be super popular and would love their father and want to be just like him when they grew up. But no, she had to ruin all of that by becoming a police officer instead of following the plan he had laid out for her. He remembered the day he had shown her the plans he had made, the plans that included their amazing wedding that they would have, and all the things he would do to help her make it through whichever school she decided to go to, with the eventual of either Medical School or Law School. She had actually looked at him crazy and then sighed, saying she was going to the academy, she was going to be a cop. He remembered how he snapped after that, it was her reaction to his plans that had caused the final shoe to drop, the final straw to break. She had ruined everything and he could no longer hide his feelings or his anger after that.

* * *

Warrick was lying back in the bed and looked up in surprise as Catherine came in with Lindsey, her mother and even little Ella. He had told the doctor not to call her, but he had already been informed that she had been called before he made the request. He could see how pale she was, how terrified she was that there was going to be a problem. The doctor had been so concerned, that he had decided not to rely on just the ultrasound and Warrick had gone through a CT scan with the contrast agent. He was now waiting for the results to come back, but he had wanted so badly to get Catherine to come down, he wanted her to be there with him when he learned what was going on with him. The fact that she had come down here, that she had brought not only Lindsey but Nick and JJ's daughter, Ella, as well, meant so much to him.

Warrick looked over and saw that Ella was apparently being shy, she was hiding half behind Lindsey and he could tell that she was holding something for him. He knew that she was trying to decide if he was a good guy or a bad guy, he couldn't blame the poor kid for being afraid of men, after the hell that poor child had been through. He knew that Nick blamed himself every day for not being there for her from day one, even worse, he blamed himself for not knowing that Krisalyn was one of the bad guys and that JJ was the one woman he had always loved and was really Ella's biological mother. He knew that they had some suspicions that Krisalyn may have been harming Ella when she was alone with her at either the hotel or at Nick's house. Something that really hurt Nick deeply.

"Thank you for coming down here." Warrick said, trying to act tough and not show any of the emotion he was really feeling inside.

"Hey, this is where we wanted to be." Catherine said as she smiled at Warrick. "Has he come in and told you anything about the results yet?" She asked softly, losing that smile and allowing the worry to show on her face.

"Not yet, why did you see him in the hallway? Did he say something to you on the phone? Do you know something?" Warrick asked, his need for information overriding everything else at the moment.

"Relax, I don't know anything." Catherine said shaking her head. She sent a gentle smile towards Ella who crept forward slowly. "Ella made you something." Catherine said as she motioned for Ella to hand Warrick what she had made. "I told her that you were her mommy and daddy's friend and that you got hurt working with her daddy on the day she was found."

Warrick frowned at Catherine, hoping she hadn't made the child feel guilty but knowing that Catherine was an amazing mother, so if she had told Ella about where and when he had gotten hurt, than she must have had a really good reason for doing it. "That's right, your daddy and I have been working together for a very long time." He said softly.

"I saw pictures." Ella said softly and then she held out her arm and waited until he took the paper she had been holding. "I drew a picture."

Warrick could tell that she had tried to copy a picture that Nick had in his house of the two of them together. It was when they had first started working together at the crime lab, and he was surprised at how good it was for a toddler. I mean, it was no way close to a professional portrait or anything, but for a toddler it was pretty good. He could tell that Lindsey had been the one to write the words get well soon, as well as his name and then she had apparently made dots for Ella to trace to sign her name, he could see the dots beneath the very crooked lines of the name Ella. "I love it, thank you so much."

Ella smiled with the praise but she wouldn't move any closer to Warrick, in fact she immediately headed back over to Lindsey, and it appeared that Lindsey understood the toddlers fears as well, because she placed a protective arm around her waist and held her close.

* * *

JJ was confused, there was something at this scene that she was missing, there was a big piece to this puzzle that she was missing and it was annoying her and driving her crazy. There had to be something there, otherwise he wouldn't have put in those cameras. There had to be something there that meant something to someone. Then she saw it, her eyes went wide as memories came flooding back to her and she started to wonder, if it was at all possible that she had known who the serial killer was the whole entire time?


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

JJ looked at Nick with an annoyed look as she threw the case file she had been studying down on the table in front of her. Ella was officially staying with Catherine and Lindsey, and she was enjoying getting to know Warrick somewhat, but she still refused to go close enough to him for him to actually give her a big hug. JJ could tell that her husband was just as annoyed as she was as they looked through every crime scene associated with this killer.

"There has to be something we are missing, and you know it." Nick snapped at her.

They were both tired and hungry, having been up for nearly 48 hours straight, and they hadn't had anything to eat since the night before. JJ leaned back in her seat and realized that Nick was probably well more annoyed than she was. They both needed to set aside the file, get something to eat and try and get some sleep, otherwise they weren't going to be any good to anyone on this case.

"Let's put everything down and eat some of the pizza that we have over there and then go to bed. We need to go to bed and sleep, it's going to be difficult for us to actually do anything until we can sleep and clear our heads." JJ said softly as she studied her husband. Even though they had been married for a while, it was still pretty hard for her to say that. For so long she had wanted Nick to look at her, the way he looked at her now, and to see that look in his eyes, the look that said he found her attractive, shocked and amazed her.

"You're right." Nick said as he rubbed at his tired eyes. "We need to step away from all of this anyway."

"Yup." JJ said with a slight smile. "Cheese or Pepperoni?" JJ asked him as she got to her feet and headed for the kitchen.

"Both, I am starving." Nick admitted rubbing his growling stomach.

"So am I." JJ said as she grabbed paper plates and piled pizza onto one plate for Nick and put a couple of slices on another one for herself. When she walked into the dining room area, she placed the plates down and then went back for drinks. When she got back into the dining room this time, Nick was sitting in his seat and waiting for her before he started eating. After she had taken her seat and placed his drink in front of him, they both dug into their food.

After they had both had enough, they threw away their plates and put away the leftover pizza and then both of them headed upstairs to bed. Exhaustion was weighing heavy on the two of them, the lack of sleep was clearly starting to effect their brain function. JJ had to admit it was at this point that she was glad that their daughter was safely in the hands of someone who wasn't as out of it as they were. Being as tired as they were, they wouldn't be able to fight off anyone. She just hoped the killer didn't decide to strike at them that night, she knew as soon as their heads hit the pillow that they were going to be out cold.

The next day, JJ opened her eyes and looked over at the clock, grateful she hadn't had to set the alarm because Ella was safe with Catherine and Grissom had asked them to take the next couple days off and to work from home. When she saw the time she moaned in disbelief before sitting up and looking next to her. She realized that her husband was not in bed with her and she could only hope that he hadn't decided to stay up all night and work by himself. He had better gotten some sleep last night, or else she was going to be sending him straight up the stairs and straight into bed. She climbed out of the bed and grabbed her robe, putting it on over her favorite pajama's and headed down the stairs in her slippers. When she found Nick, she realized he was in his pajama bottoms, his feet bare and shirtless, and he was fast asleep on the couch, surrounded by the reports and files.

JJ wasn't sure if he had gotten up at night and started working on everything or if he had gotten up earlier than she had and started working only to realize he was still way too tired and fall back to sleep. She smiled at the sight in front of her and went ahead and grabbed the reports from around him, before she covered him with a throw blanket and went to the table to start working herself. She wasn't sure how long she had been working on her own at the table, but she heard footsteps behind her and then felt lips on her nape and that made her smile.

"You should have stayed in bed longer." JJ teased as she turned around and arched an eyebrow at her husband. Nick stood in front of her in only flannel pajama bottoms, no shirt and no socks or slippers. His brown hair was tousled from sleep and his eyes were half closed from just waking up. He had never looked more sexy to her, at least she didn't think he had. "Sheesh, if we weren't really anxious to catch this killer and as tired as we are, I might make you take me upstairs right now to bed." JJ said with a smirk on her face that let her husband know what they would have been doing in the bedroom.

"Hmm… you know it might get our adrenaline running and allow us to start concentrating more, so I think that's a great idea." Nick said as he suddenly picked her up and ran for the stairs, with her laughing and shrieking at the same time.

* * *

He was staring around him at the new area that he had chosen. He wasn't sure what it was about this area but there was something special about it. He needed to make sure that when JJ showed up here, she was able to start remembering the truth about everything. JJ was the key to everything and she was the reason he had started to kill and do the things he had been doing. He wanted her to eventually remember that it was all her fault, he wanted her to know that she could have prevented all of this and to feel guilty for every single person that had died a horrible and painful death because of her. He wondered if there was a way that he could show her all the things that had happened because of her, and then he remembered that he could, by showing her the video tapes he had made over the years.

"I can't wait until you see just how amazing my handy work really is." He said with happiness actually running through his veins. He had never really been at peace or happy, not after the things that had caused so much misery that he had felt the need to spread it around. Now he was going to make sure that the woman who had caused his pain, learned the true meaning of emotional torture and pain. He was going to make sure that she never ever forgot the victims, that their screams of pain echoed in her head long after she finished watching the tapes. That she no longer slept at night because of the terror she could see on their faces, the terror that would imprint itself on her own mind. He wanted that image in her mind, he wanted her to suffer for everything she had ever done, and this was going to be how he made her suffer.

Glancing around he realized the area had way too much foot traffic though. There were so many people walking by he would never be able to actually get his camera's up and running. And with all the people walking by there was a bigger chance of being identified when he dropped the body, someone would eventually see him no matter how careful he was if he decided to still use this area. There was no way that he was going to be able to hide from all the people walking by. Sighing he felt the giddy feeling leave him as he realized the perfect place, wasn't as perfect as he thought it was going to be.

"Back to the drawing board." He muttered as he turned and headed for his car. He had to find the perfect place, and it had to be able to trigger JJ's memories in a way none of the other crime scenes had been able to do. He had to make sure that she didn't walk away from that scene still struggling to remember what it was that was so familiar, he needed to trigger her memories which would in turn trigger Nick's. "Soon you will all know my pain." He snapped as he started his car and drove away from the area he had so wanted to turn into a dark and dreadful sorrow filled place. There were so many people laughing as they walked around, he wanted to wipe away all of those smiles and make them cry over the death of a beautiful young woman, who didn't have to die. "You should have been a better person JJ."

* * *

JJ was sitting at the kitchen table with Nick, both of them were freshly showered and dressed and had just come downstairs after spending another couple hours upstairs in bed. JJ couldn't seem to wipe the smile off her face as she drank some of the juice she usually had with breakfast. Nick was wearing his satisfied smirk that always showed he had gotten his way on something, yet again. They were trying to make notes on the case but every time it seemed they were getting started, Nick would teasingly tap her foot under the table and get her to blush, which then got him to burst out laughing.

"We need to get back to work." JJ said after what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Okay, you're absolutely right, we do." Nick said, starting to turn serious as his smirk slowly disappeared from his face.

"Where did we leave off last night?" JJ asked as she looked around for the notes she had been making and then winced when she realized that they made no sense, at all. "We were way too tired to write anything properly. I can't read my own chicken scratch. What about you?"

Nick winced as he looked over his own notes and then shook his head. "I can't understand anything that I have written here." He admitted as he threw aside the pages of notes he had made in frustration. "Whatever we were thinking about last night, it's no longer there. We can't remember what we were thinking and we can't read our own handwriting because we were way too tired to write properly."

JJ could tell Nick was frustrated and he had every right to be, but this was something that they knew was a possibility when they worked with so little sleep. Sighing she started to look over her notes, to see if she could make out anything when an idea hit her. What if this had something to do with their pasts, their long ago pasts when they were growing up?

"Nick, what if all of this has nothing to do with who we dated in college or after that? What if this has something to do with us all right, but something from a very long time ago?" JJ asked as she looked at Nick who seemed to be studying something he had written in his notes from the night before.

"I can read this one, it says a letter was found stating they had to remember." Nick read off and then he turned and looked at his wife. "If this has to do with our childhood, then we have some serious memory lane walking to do, and we might even have to call home for this one." Nick said with a wince and they both knew that if they were right, things were about to get extremely complicated around there.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

JJ was struggling to remember every little detail that she could. She needed to know what had happened to set someone off, and how she could have had anything to do with any of this. The more she thought about all the letters that she had read from all of the crime scenes, not just the ones here in Las Vegas, the more she knew there was something that was important that she knew, that she had buried so deeply in her subconscious that she wasn't all that sure she could retrieve it at all, and even if she could, it might not be in time to stop this person from killing someone else.

JJ paced back and forth, looking at the boxes she had pulled out and the things that were scattered all over the bedroom. She had taken the boxes into one of the guest rooms and had emptied the things that she could and scattered them around, hanging some of the things up and laying others flat on the ground. She had no organization for the things that were there, she was only using them to try and trigger some sort of a memory and hoping it would allow her to remember whoever this could be and what she could have done to piss this person off so much.

JJ knew that Nick was worried about her, ever since they had made the connection that it could be something from way back in their childhood, she had been distant and withdrawn from him, mainly because she didn't know how to handle the news that something she could have done as a child had angered or hurt someone so much that they would snap and start torturing and killing people, to get her attention and to get her to understand it was her fault for everything that she had done. Sighing, JJ knew she really needed to try and remember everything that she could, and she needed to do it fast. The main problem was, she didn't want Nick to help her, and she didn't want anyone else to help her either. If this had to do with something she did as a child, then it was her responsibility to figure it all out, all by herself.

* * *

He was delighted that a new plan was starting to really form in his mind. He had been so bummed out when he realized that other location was way too populated and busy for him to actually put his cameras up or dump a body without being seen, and so he had abandoned the area and tried to figure out something else, but nothing had come to him. He had been a little worried that he wouldn't be able to come up with another evil plan or a place that would get under little JJ's skin enough, but fate must have stepped in because as he was trying to run off his frustration he had found the area and he knew it was the perfect place, there was no way he would be seen by anyone when he set the camera's up and again there was no way anyone would pay attention or see him if he was dumping a body, but just in case someone got too nosy or too close, he was going to have to be prepared to do whatever it took to keep everything contained and ready for his JJ.

"Soon you will finally understand how big a mistake you really made you stupid little…" He trailed off, aware he was losing his cool and knowing he needed to get himself under control.

* * *

Nick was worried about his wife, and he knew he had a good reason. He had seen some guilt in her eyes at the thought that this could have something to do with her past and what had happened when she was a child. He remembered a lot of their childhood, and she had nothing to feel guilty about. JJ had always been the nicest and sweetest person you would ever meet, and she never got an attitude with someone who didn't deserve it. He had actually been surprised she had become a police officer, mainly because she hated confrontation and she hated conflict. JJ preferred when things were nice and neat and there was nothing for her to have to deal with that could upset anyone. It was hurting him to know that this person would make her think that she had been mean or done something mean to him in childhood that he would turn into a killer, it was more likely he just loved death and killing people and was looking to blame someone else so he wouldn't have to go to prison.

* * *

JJ was in shock as she finally knew it clicked and because she knew who they were dealing with now, she knew that they would never know or believe that she had put the whole picture together and knew that he was their killer. She left the guest room and ran down the stairs and looked around for her husband. Finally she opened their back door and she saw him, he was apparently sitting at their backyard patio set and drinking some iced tea, trying to get his mind straight or relax, and it hurt her to have to break that relaxation but it was necessary.

"Nick!" She shouted as she practically jumped into his lap. She watched as he smiled and then chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Good thing I put down that glass already or we might have had a small problem." He teased as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Are we feeling better?" Nick asked her as he kissed her temple and showed that he was now serious.

"More than that." JJ said as she grinned at him.

"Why is that?" Nick asked in confusion.

"Because I know who we are looking for and now we just need to find out where to look." JJ said with a smirk as she handed him the picture that held the man, as he looked as a boy, and the two of them standing together at the park in their soccer uniforms.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, pain flashing into his eyes, which also echoed her own.

"I am sure." JJ said slowly nodding. "He was our friend, still is technically, but he is the one we are looking for and he is the one who is taunting us and he is the one who ordered everything that was done, done."

The fact that some of that stuff had to do with their daughter was one of the things that meant that this old friend wasn't going to get away from things. Their friendship had always been strong and he had always been someone they could trust with all of their secrets and even their lives, but now things had changed. Before they would have never hesitated to allow them near their daughter, to even ask him to baby sit her or come to parties or even be her godfather, since she technically didn't have one yet, but now they couldn't have him around her, not if JJ really felt like he was the one they were looking for, that he was the one who had hurt their daughter in the first place.

* * *

Grissom could tell that Sara was trying to keep a straight face as he tried in vain to again fix the ugly and stupid tie that was around his neck. He normally didn't go near any political functions, unless he had to, because he wasn't much for politics and he was always more comfortable in the world of science and not the world of predators trying to stab each other in the back and lie to the people about things they would do to help their lives become better if they voted for them. With everything that had been going on, this serial killer still on the loose, Warrick still struggling to recover and just about all of his CSI's struggling to come to terms with all that had gone down and all that would go down, he shouldn't be here with these people, he should be processing evidence and watching others run other evidence.

"I hate this." He grumbled again.

"I know." Sara said, knowing that he was thinking of all the things he still had to do at the office and it hurt her that he never forgot work, he was going to burn out.

"We need to make sure this guy doesn't kill again and that he doesn't hurt anymore of our people. We need to find a way to end this once and for all." Grissom said as he paced in the hallway, wanting this whole to end.

"I know." Sara agreed, knowing at this point disagreeing would get her nowhere.

"Why do they want me here again?" Grissom asked arching his eyebrow again at Sara, knowing she would tell him whatever she asked him to when he did that.

"They want you to put the politicians and high ranking officials at ease about this whole thing." Sara informed him.

"How am I supposed to do that when there is nothing to help put them at ease?" Grissom asked with a wince as he yanked at the tie yet again.

* * *

JJ was sure that she was on a time limit and time was running out for whoever his latest target was, but their friend was either really smart, or incredibly lucky. They couldn't seem to find anything in system that would show where he was currently living. She knew that if she just called out of the blue and asked where he lived, he would be suspicious and if he was guilty, he would snap and kill any hostages he had and then take off, making their jobs even harder than before. She needed to tread a fine line and it was possible that she might have to call him and be his friend, in earnest, and just let him think that he had her fooled while she would need to invite him to dinner and to hang out and do things together. She knew that was the suggestion Nick hated the most, but since their daughter was out of the house and safe under lock and key with Catherine, he knew it was probably the only thing they really could do, to try and find a way to slip a tracking device on him. If they slipped the device on his car or person too early, like the first time or two that they got together, he would probably know something was up there as well.

JJ knew that he was going to be suspicious on why they wanted to hang out as friends now of all times, and he would think they had made him and were trying to find out where he lived. If he was that paranoid, then he would check for tracking devices constantly the first few times that they got together, which meant it was going to take a lot of time. Nick had already run the plan past Grissom, who although grouchy because of where he was, had agreed it may be their only option if no one was able to track the guy at all.

"I don't understand, his whole life didn't just walk away." JJ said slamming her hand on the table.

"It didn't baby, it's all here, just not his address or anything else. It's apparent that he is a lot smarter than we ever gave him credit for." Nick said with a sigh, knowing that the next month or so was going to be a lot longer than usual.

* * *

He knew she was ready to beg for her life. He had sped up the timetable because his gut was telling him something wasn't right at the moment, but he didn't care. His gut only meant that now he would need to change the kill schedule and try and make sure that JJ and Nick and their little friends didn't find him out before he got to finish playing his game. JJ and Nick had always believed they were better than everyone else, now they were going to learn it was because of the way they treated people as children, that they were going to pay. He also knew something they didn't know, something that was going to devastate them when they found it out, and he couldn't wait to see their faces as he told them what he had to say.

"Now let's see how tough and busy you really are." He murmured as he laughed and continued arranging things for his latest kill.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

JJ and Nick were shocked at just how much more gruesome and disgusting this scene was. Grissom and Catherine, who had been around a lot longer, were currently trying to keep their stomachs from dispelling whatever was inside of them, which should tell you just how bloody and gross this scene was. JJ was leaning against the SUV that she and Nick had arrived in together. JJ looked around for their old friends signature that he had clearly left behind, something that hadn't been picked up until recently. JJ saw it quickly, but she also saw that it was somewhere she couldn't get anywhere near, which meant that he had to have been able to get it there with something special, and that had to be a way that they could track him down. JJ was getting more and more concerned that they wouldn't be able to track him and find him, they had a picture of what he used to look like but no one knew what he looked like now. He could have had surgery and changed his image, he could look like someone else and even using the software that could age his childhood photo, won't guarantee that they know what he looks like today, which could mean they wouldn't have the right warnings out there for possible victims, and all they would be doing was letting him know that they were on to him.

"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked as he stood next to his wife. He could tell that her mind was spinning and she was thinking and trying to prioritize things and figure out what their next move should be to find their old friend and how they should proceed with the scene in front of them.

"I am just wondering if putting his childhood photo and the aged photo that the computer put together is even a good idea." JJ said softly. "What if he had surgery and putting the photo out only lets him know that we made him? It could do nothing but piss him off so much more that he goes on a major killing spree and gets out of control."

"We don't have a choice. If we don't let the public know that we identified a suspect, and he does look like the computer printout, then he could kill a lot more innocent and unsuspecting women. We remember how quickly he got people to trust him before." Nick said as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I know, I remember everything about him. I remember the day he told me that he had this crush on me, and I told him, I told him that I didn't feel that way about him because I had a…" JJ closed her eyes as she realized what was going on and what this could be about. "Nick, he was so hurt and angry when I wouldn't give him a chance. He knew that you didn't love me or see me like that, and when I said I couldn't see myself with anyone but you, he actually screamed at me for the first time and told me that I would live to regret it, and I think this is what he meant."

"If he is this angry because as a child you wouldn't go out with him, then he was never mentally stable, JJ." Nick said softly.

"What if I am wrong? What if it's not him but someone else that we didn't notice as a child? What if I put the wrong picture out there? I mean we have no evidence that this guy is our guy, we can't even put the word suspect in front of his name." JJ pointed out.

"True." Nick sighed as he realized that even though they were both pretty sure it was this guy, they couldn't prove it yet.

* * *

Grissom could tell that all of his people and the police officers were struggling with the scene in front of them. They couldn't even tell if all the body parts were there, the body was so badly mutilated that they didn't even know if it was a female. All Grissom knew was that there was a human being that had been killed and torn to sheds, he didn't even think there had been a scene where an animal had attacked a human that looked as bad as this, this guy had really done a number on this victim.

"The victim was alive when the mutilation started, maybe even conscious." The coroner that was helping out on this night stated softly. "This victim may have felt every single thing that happened to them. The victim appears to be a female."

"Anyway to identify the body?" Grissom asked as he squatted down next to the body, keeping away from the blood pools.

"Dental records might be helpful and DNA. I am not sure if we can use the skull to rebuild the face on this one." Sarah spoke up from the other side of the coroner.

"Yeah, I don't see the hands so fingerprints are out." Catherine spoke up.

Catherine was supposed to have some time off to help Warrick recover and keep his mind off things. She was also supposed to help take care of Ella and at the same time get some time with Lindsay, and she planned to go straight from the scene back to her home and not process any evidence, which was why her kit wasn't at the scene. She wasn't going to touch anything but if she noticed something with her experience and her talent and skill. She was going to make sure there was nothing left behind, something all of the CSI's at the scene were all being extra careful about.

"Well, he crushed the skull a bit and it actually looks like he made sure it was deformed, and there was no way to put it back together correctly to make the rebuild of the face." Sarah said with a sigh as she studied the skull bone.

"How could he be so good?" Catherine asked shaking her head in complete and total shock at the moment.

"He has to have been trained in some way. Think about how everything went down with JJ and Nick, Ella's birth and everything. This guy had to have a medical background of some sort." Grissom pointed out with a bigger frown on his face. "This guy may even be practicing medicine somewhere and could be choosing his victims that way or gaining their trust and if that is the case, then we are going to have a lot of panicked people on our hands. We need to look at all the people in every victims life, including people they saw every day or went to see for anything they needed."

"I agree. The skills this guy has, they are really starting to get under my skin." Sarah said as she closed her eyes against the image of the bloody mess in front of her.

* * *

He wasn't sure what they were all thinking or what was going on around the area but it was clear that they had called in everyone to work this scene, and that meant that what he had planned on doing he had actually done. He was watching as JJ and Nick stood back and watched everyone else work and it was clear the two of them were whispering to each other about something, and it was obvious that they had something on their minds and weren't sure where to go from there. He wasn't sure how close they were to figuring things out, but he knew that no matter what, they didn't know what he looked like at the moment and there was no way they would figure it all out, because he had made sure of it.

"JJ and Nick, it won't be long before everything comes out, and when it does, you will be on your death beds!" He snapped, he didn't know why he was so angry but he was.

* * *

JJ and Nick had decided that they couldn't touch the evidence at the scene because they were worried what a defense lawyer might do with that information. There might be a chance, because JJ had been a victim of his, that they might get the evidence that they touched thrown out, but the evidence from before all of that might be all right. JJ and Nick had looked at the scene, walked through the scene and had gotten everyone to promise to forward pictures of all of the evidence to their phones so they could go through it and add it to what they already had and what they already knew. JJ knew that it was killing Nick to walk away from the scene, but they weren't the only ones leaving, Catherine was already heading towards her vehicle to head back to her house where Ella was with Lindsey and Catherine's mother as well as her police guards.

"Hey." Nick said as they pulled into their driveway and JJ didn't even move to undo her seatbelt. It was clear that she hadn't even noticed that they were home.

"Huh?" JJ snapped out of her thoughts and looked around. Wincing she unhooked her seatbelt and then got out of the car. She unsnapped her holster and pulled out her gun, waiting for Nick and then the two of them did a police clear of their house, making sure that they went room to room and making sure there was nothing new or out of the ordinary in any of the rooms.

"Where were you?" Nick asked as they took a seat at the table after resetting their alarm and making sure everything was locked down.

"Just thinking. I must have done something really horrible to this guy for him to get this out of hand and mutilate women like this. How could anyone go this far just because of a crush? It had to be because of something else. I just don't know what else I could have done that would have set someone off." JJ said frustrated that she couldn't figure out what this was all about.

"JJ, this isn't really about you. Anyone could have set this guy off at any point, anyone could have caused this and he just focused in on us." Nick said softly, seeing that his wife was really on the edge.

"I hope that you're right." JJ said as she sighed and started to look at all the files on their table and she took out her phone and started looking at the pictures coming into her phone.

* * *

Grissom could tell that there was something really different about the way this scene was staged. This guy was trying to really get a shock value in, but it was more than that, he really wanted to scare the people of Las Vegas, he wanted to get under the skin of all of the really professional cops and crime scene investigators with this scene, and Grissom knew that in order to get under the killers skin, they had to pretend that this was nothing unique or special. The word was spread to be nonchalant and pretend to be unaffected, it was hard for a lot of the cops and rookie cops were sent away because everyone knew it was going to be way too hard for a rookie to keep his cool and seem unaffected by this type of a scene.

"I think you are right about this one, Grissom." Sarah said softly.

"I know it."Grissom said as they watched the coroner van leave with the human remains that the coroner could make out.

"So any other remains that we find we have to separate and call the coroner back or what?" Sarah asked as she looked around at the scene.

"If it's not found here but at the lab then it won't be a problem. Chances are that the other remains are hidden within the evidence at the scene, and that means we won't find it right away. There is also a chance that he didn't stash it all here, which means there will be a secondary dump site." Grissom pointed out.

"We need to let all cops know to keep their eyes peeled." Sarah said as she motioned for the officer in charge to start spreading the word.

"Yeah, and that just means there could be a few busy nights coming up." Grissom pointed out.

"It could mean trouble, because he could make the next dump site, very public." Sarah pointed out and everyone there winced knowing things were starting to get much worse and could get more difficult and messier than they thought.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

JJ was rubbing the back of her neck, knowing that all the tension in her body was probably causing more than a few knots to appear in her neck and shoulders. Nick was currently asleep upstairs, where she was supposed to be but her mind just wouldn't shut down, not tonight. She hated knowing that the female victim had suffered worse than any of the previous victims ever had. It was almost like he was getting more and more frenzied, like something had made him so angry that he had to take it out on someone else in a very angry, bitter, painful, torturous way. JJ felt nothing but guilt at the thought that this could be happening to all these victims, because of something insensitive or humiliating that she could have done to someone else when she was a child.

She had been trying to use what she could to track down her old 'friend', just to make sure it could be him or to maybe even just apologize, especially if it turned out it wasn't him at all. JJ knew that she had to figure some sort of way to get in touch with the killer, to get him to slip up or just flat out tell her what this was all about, because she really had no idea. As she thought through everything she realized that she had to have known, deep down, subconsciously, that she was the main target for this killer. She just didn't understand why he had brought Nick into the whole thing the way that he had. JJ didn't understand about drugging her, having Nick get her pregnant and then making sure she was unable to remember anything about that, so much so that another woman was able to claim Ella as her own daughter without JJ being able to dispute it.

Suddenly she felt someone else's hands taking over and pressing harder into the knots in her body and she nearly jumped out of her skin, startled. When she turned quickly, which caused the hands to fall away, she saw Nick standing there with concern written all over his face. "You very nearly scared me to death. I have my gun close by Nick, what if I had just turned with my weapon and shot you without looking first?"

"Hey, relax JJ." Nick said softly, holding up his hands in a mock surrender. "You are so tight in your shoulders and neck, I can already tell that you most likely have a bunch of knots and we both know how bad those can get for you. Why don't you and I go into the living room, I can rub your shoulders, neck and back, and hopefully get those knots out, while we either talk about whatever is on your mind or we can put on the television and either watch late night TV or a movie?" Nick suggested as he smiled at his wife, still in so much shock that he had finally gotten JJ to marry him and that they had a beautiful daughter together.

"Okay." JJ said nodding slowly. She knew that she wouldn't be able to think straight, or ever get any sleep or even function until those knots were out because she was having a hard time holding a pen because she got that tingling in your arm, the feeling you usually get after you wake your foot up after it's fallen asleep. She knew it was because the circulation would get cut off and then suddenly the blood starts rushing through there.

They went into the living room and she settled on the couch, her back to her husband as he settled onto the couch behind her. He was lying back and she had settled between his legs with her legs stretched out in front of her, that way they were both technically lying down, but her back was to him so he could rub her shoulders, neck and back. They usually laid that way when she would lay with her back settled on his chest and his arms around her, and she figured that after he was done with rubbing everything out, she could lay back and they could just cuddle, and they would most likely fall asleep that way.

* * *

Grissom was staring at the evidence in front of him, wondering what it could be that he missed, because in his gut there was this feeling that there was something so obvious in front of him that he hadn't seen yet. He wasn't sure what it could be, but he had to find it because there was no way he could go home and sleep, not with this thought in his head, making his mind spin with ideas and suggestions to himself on how to figure out whatever it was.

Grissom looked up when he heard footsteps entering the lab area where he had the evidence lined up in front of him. He saw Sarah standing there and the look on her face made it very clear that she knew what was on his mind, she always seemed to know what was on his mind. She knew how he thought, she knew how he processed things and it was like she was in his head most of the time when it came to his ideas.

"You aren't going to get anywhere by staying here like this and staring at the evidence. You have the next couple days off for a reason, they don't want the team to get burnt out and after that horrible scene they are worried about how we are going to take things, so they have ordered us to take some down time and try and get ourselves back on track." Sarah reminded him and then she gave him a small smile. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Grissom really didn't want to leave but he knew she was right. If he stayed and kept looking at everything then he was really going to push things to hard. He knew that his mind was shutting itself down slowly, mainly because it was overworked and exhausted, just like he was, and he knew that if he got some rest and took some time for himself, he could probably come back to everything with a clearer head and find whatever it was in that pile of evidence that was bothering him. He started to put everything back away, making sure that he resealed it and initialed everything, keeping the chain of evidence intact. He didn't want anything to get thrown out of court on a technicality based on something so simple, no matter what.

* * *

Catherine was smiling as she saw the way Ella was cuddled with her favorite stuffed animal and her favorite blankie, while Lindsey was lying on her side facing the bed Ella was sleeping on, almost like she was looking over Ella and making sure she was all right. Catherine hated to admit it, but her daughter was pretty much grown up, not an adult yet, but she had the maturity level to be pretty close. Catherine was very proud of how much Lindsey was doing to make Ella feel safer and better, since she was away from her mommy and daddy again and it had to be super scary for her after what happened to her for so long in the wrong hands. As a mother herself, Catherine knew it had to be so hard for JJ not to have Ella close, especially after all that had happened in the past when it came to Ella and the family JJ and Nick were trying to make together. Catherine had also informed JJ and Nick that recently, Ella had made it clear she was going to be a big sister and that mommy and daddy were going to make sure she got a baby brother or a baby sister, soon.

Catherine turned away and left the door open a crack, like she always did and then she walked down the hallway to the guest room. When she quietly pushed the door open she was shocked to see the light was on and Warrick was wide awake, reading a book and ignoring the television that was in the room. Catherine managed to get a good look at the title and sighed, knowing that it was about tough to see forensics. It was clear that Warrick felt the same way that Grissom did which was shocking to her. She knew that Warrick looked up to Grissom, something a lot of CSI's actually did. But she never thought he would go so far as to read a book about forensics that were hard to see with your own eyes.

"Warrick…" Catherine started but when he looked up, she could see the excitement in his eyes. He was reading the book not just to help Grissom out, but because he wanted to be more involved in helping to stop this serial killer. She didn't have the heart to tell him that reading that book wasn't going to get him anywhere really, because their evidence was so messed up and so out of context that Catherine wasn't all that sure that it was going to be useful at all.

"Don't start right now. Grissom called me and he asked me what I thought about evidence hiding in plain sight, and I told him what I thought and that I would look into some things. This author, he wrote loads of forensics books explaining different techniques and different processes and if this killer is possibly using a special technique to hide evidence from us, then we need to do whatever we can to find it." Warrick stated and Catherine knew he was right and so she just nodded and sighed before she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

JJ and Nick were sitting at the table going through the things that they had brought home with them and the pictures that they had taken at the latest scene, hoping to figure out what the game was. The pictures that were going to be used as evidence were still in the evidence locker, that way no one could ever claim that they were tampered with because JJ and Nick had taken them home, they had just taken copies home instead. They both knew it was important that they really study these pictures, and that they really work hard to find out who this guy really is and what his issue is, because if they were wrong and it wasn't the old 'friend' from childhood, then they had no idea where to start or what this was all about.

* * *

He was pacing back and forth, looking at all the monitors and glad that his latest invention was doing it's job. It didn't matter how many times they scanned for camera's or bugs, they wouldn't be found by anyone or their equipment, there was a trick to making sure of it. He sighed as he took a seat in his favorite chair and stared at the monitor that showed what JJ and Nick were up to and he wondered how long it would take before they finally realized he wasn't predictable and that there was nothing for them to find, he was way too good for that.

The fact of the matter was, he had left clues for them at earlier scenes and they didn't pick up on them, and so now he was going to make things much, much harder for everyone involved. He had a reason for everything he did, and he was going to make sure that JJ learned that she was the reason so many people had died, and he hoped that, that guilt would eat her alive and haunt her for the rest of her life.

* * *

JJ was leaning back in her chair, and she glanced at the clock and saw that it was after 2 in the morning. She glanced back to her husband and saw that Nick was exhausted and he was looking a bit pale. The images from the last crime scene were fresh in both of their minds, and she knew how bad it had to be for him to sit there and know that this person had, had their daughter, because she knew it was killing her inside. She was feeling nothing but guilt for everything that had happened to all of the victims and the feeling that she was the reason it was happening to all these poor innocent helpless people. Now she could only help everyone by trying to figure out if her old friend was responsible or if it was someone else, and if it was someone else, she needed to know why they did the things that they did and why they blamed her for everything. JJ knew it needed to be fast, because serial killers didn't break patterns easily and that meant he was destined to torture and kill another innocent, very, very, soon.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

JJ and Nick were sitting in the conference room with everyone else, including Warrick who had come in with Catherine. Lindsey and Ella were playing in Catherine's office until it was time for them all to leave and head home. The whole team had come together to decide what could be done to find a way to trap this guy and they wanted to find a way to see what it was that seemed to be bugging everyone about the evidence, because everyone had a feeling that there was something they were missing, something that could break the case wide open and lead them to their killer. Although JJ and Nick were sure they knew why this guy was suddenly doing these things, they still didn't have the proof that they needed and they didn't know where he could be.

"Look, we all agree that there has to be something that we are missing." Catherine said as she leaned back in her chair and looked around the table.

"No one is talking?" Nick asked, wanting to know about those they had in custody that they knew had worked with the main suspect.

"Nope. If they know this guys identity, they aren't giving it up not even to make a deal." Catherine shook her head.

"So, then, we need to figure this one out ourselves, which we've done in the past." Warrick said with a sigh.

"True, but this time it's very important that we do this fast." Sarah added from where she was sitting.

JJ and Nick were sitting alone at home later on, and they were both making notes on what they all could be missing. JJ knew that Nick was wondering what they could be missing that was right in front of them. They were both more than aware of what this guy could do next if he decided to escalate a lot more than he already had. JJ wanted to make sure that no one else lost their life because none of the officers or crime scene investigators could find the necessary evidence to identify the killer.

"Hey, whatever it is you're thinking, stop." Nick said suddenly.

"We could be the reason that someone else dies. We could be the reason this guy snapped and decided to start his killing spree." JJ said softly.

"We aren't the reason someone decided to become a psychotic killer. If this is about something that happened when we were kids then we can't be blamed for that either." Nick said, trying to be as reassuring as he could be.

"I just can't help thinking that I should know something that would help us solve this case and identify the killer." JJ said as she looked at everything and then grabbed it all and threw it to the floor in frustration and anger at herself.

"Hey, it's going to be all right." Nick said as he got up from his seat and pulled her up. He kissed her lightly on the lips and then just held her in his arms. "It will be all right honey."

"I hope so." JJ said as she clung to him.

* * *

He was laughing as he watched what was happening. He loved the fact that he could keep his camera's and things hidden inside the homes of all the people that were looking for him and they couldn't find them. He had the inside view on how the case was coming along and the fact that he had planted the clues and everyone was following the clues he had left, they were thinking exactly what he wanted them to think and he knew they would never figure out the truth. He glanced over and looked at the young woman he had been so lucky to find. He hadn't been planning on grabbing anyone anytime soon but suddenly there she was and she looked just like JJ and so he had decided it was time to really freak her out.

He wasn't sure what the torture method should be or what his plan was for her death, but whatever it was that he chose, he was going to make sure it made everyone aware that their time with JJ was limited. He had his reasons for choosing who he chose and he was pretty sure that once JJ was dead, he wouldn't need to kill anyone anymore, but there was always a chance that he could find someone else to torment and torture through terror and guilt before he had to kill them.

"Now, this isn't your fault lady, but you look just like the woman who I have been playing a deadly game with, and you are the final warning and the final chance for the cops and her to figure out who I am and what this is all about, really." He said as he grinned at the woman and could see her getting even more scared at the sight of his smile.

* * *

Grissom wasn't sure what it was, but he had a feeling that he really did know what this was about, he could see it but it wasn't clicking within his mind. There was something that was staring him right in the face but he couldn't seem to make it clear in his mind just yet. He moved his eyes, randomly, to different pictures, hoping there was something hidden but nothing was coming to him, nothing that would explain the aha moment he had going on. There was something there, he just wasn't sure what it was but he was going to find it, he had to.

* * *

JJ and Nick kissed and then she turned to pick up the pictures when she saw it, and she felt like she could kick herself. She stared at the photo's and how they had landed, making a pattern that she never would have seen. The pictures had covered parts of the other pictures up and making one thing stand out more than anything and as she stared at the photo's a sick feeling started to churn in her stomach. When Nick moved to pick up the photo's she moved her arm and pulled him back, shaking her head as she slowly dropped to her knees. She noticed Nick following her lead out of the corner of her eyes, but she couldn't make the words come out of her mouth that would tell him why she was acting like she was now.

"Nick, do you see what I see?" JJ asked softly.

"No, what do you see?" Nick asked confused as he studied the pictures the way she was. He couldn't tell what she was seeing, but he could tell she was seeing something important. "Do you want a marker?"

"Yes. We should also make the calls to everyone and tell them that I think I might have figured out something about this guy." JJ said excitedly. She was finally starting to see things like she used to, she was finally seeing something that would lead her to tracking down a major creep! She had to do this, she had to stop him for all the women he had killed already, for the families of the deceased and to protect all of those that he would kill if they didn't catch him. She had to take him down to protect her daughter, her precious little girl. "I am so close and soon, soon I am going to take you down and make you pay." She muttered under her breath, not wanting Nick to hear. She wasn't sure if she could simply arrest this guy, but she wouldn't stoop to his level. If she didn't trust herself to make the arrest, she would send someone else in and stay out, making sure that everything went by the book and justice was served.


	43. Chapter 43

Author's Note:

Hey i just wanted to say I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update... There has been a lot going on. I am going to try and update a lot more, I know I probably already have said that, but I do mean it. I am going out of town for a bout a week at the end of the month and won't be able to work on my stories, but I will work on stuff before i go and after I get back...

Thanx to the loyal readers. remember i love to get reviews, but please be nice, no MEAN reviews meant to be hurtful rather than helpful. I like critiscm, but only the kind meant to help me be better not the kind meant to be nasty or mean. Remember this is FANFICTION, meaning it's not always going to be right or perfect or even reflect the way the characters are written for the show, this is meant to be a fictional story made from my own imagination...

Thanx to all new readers, hope you enjoy and please review!

Kris

* * *

Chapter 43

He was watching the recorded feed from the camera's inside the Stokes home and he frowned as he saw JJ staring at the pictures and it seemed she thought she had figured something out that she had missed, that didn't matter. There were so many things that the team, and especially her, had missed that he didn't think he would ever have to worry about being caught. He had been planting evidence since the beginning, paying people off or planting people inside so many different investigations that there was no way they could tell what was real evidence for them and what wasn't. JJ was smart but he doubted she would be able to sort through anything and find the real evidence and the truth, he had made it nearly impossible for that to happen. JJ was good at what she did, but this wasn't going to be something she could figure out, he was a lot smarter than that entire team put together, he actually figured he was smarter than anyone else in the entire world, he knew he was walking away from this unscathed and no one, anywhere, would be able to figure this one out.

* * *

JJ was angry as she hung up the phone. The big lead she had about the kid that she and Nick had grown up with, was gone. It had to have been planted there or else she was just seeing what she wanted to see to find some answers.

"That didn't sound like it ended good at all." Nick said as he sat down next to her in one of the conference rooms at the station.

"Nope, we can rule out our childhood lead, our old buddy was found brutally murdered a few years back, but they had a hard time identifying his body, which was why we didn't know about it and were able to think it could have been him. Someone badly mutilated his body, using something to make sure his face was torn up to the point it was unrecognizable and his finger tips were cut off, making sure there were no prints. Dental records were also out because someone actually took the time to pull all his teeth and since there wasn't really much left of him, DNA was going to take a while. He was found in some really small area, an area that doesn't have the technology we do out here. They had to send out all their samples to a federal lab and that lab was so backed up that it took over a year before the body was identified, by that point it had been buried as a John Doe. They just dug it up upon identification and it will be given to the parents back home." JJ informed Nick and she could see how shocked and dismayed he was at hearing that. She knew part of it was that they were hoping that they had a name for their suspect and part of it was that someone they had grown up with had been brutalized.

"You think our guy did that to him?" Nick asked her softly.

"It's possible. Like I said there wasn't much left of the body there, part of it was decomposition and the other part was someone had pretty much tore it up. We have been finding DNA samples at the scenes, I bet they will all come back to our deceased friend. He was planting DNA evidence all along, trying to throw us off our game, and it worked. We need to tell everyone the DNA samples are mostly worthless, we need to run every sample we get in case he screwed up and left a sample of his own, but if they come back to…" JJ trailed off looking down as she felt the pain in her heart. This was something she had grown up with and now he was dead and part of her felt like it had to be her fault, she had to be the reason his life had been cut so short. "He had kids and a wife, Nick." JJ whispered as she told him what was really hurting her about the death. "Even worse, he was military. You tell me how someone could actually overpower him if he was military? There had to be some reason our friend didn't fight back, that he actually went along with this guy and thought he was safe."

"I still can't believe he was married with kids and in the military, that's not the friend I remember him being." Nick said with a skeptical look on his face.

"It's been a while since we have seen him and as I recall you didn't think it was possible for me to actually be a cop either. You don't know what people are like as they get older, you can't just rely on what you remember of us as kids." JJ pointed out softly. "Let's try and get a little bit more done so we can head to Catherine's. I want to give my baby girl a kiss and actually tuck her into bed tonight. Catherine invited us over for dinner." JJ said as she looked at everything in front of her. Things just weren't adding up, they weren't panning out the way they should be and that was really getting on her last nerve.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I miss seeing her." Nick said softly as he kissed JJ's temple and smiled at the thought of seeing his toddler daughter. He had missed so much of the first part of her life, well, even JJ had missed so much of the first part of her life, neither of them knowing they actually had a daughter, but they would make it up to her but first they had to make sure she was safe, they had to eliminate the threat to their family and to do that, they needed to find this killer and stop him.

* * *

He grinned as he looked over at the woman and he loved seeing the terror on her face. It was clear that she didn't know what this was about, but did any woman that was kidnapped. He was surprised she had been so easy to catch, I mean, it was all over the news about him and yet women still didn't think it could happen to them and so they were so careless and ignorant. He had felt a moment of panic when the cops and FBI had come onto the news stations and given tips for making sure they were safe from being taken and killed by him, he had thought he was never going to find his perfect woman and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to grab her and continue with his plan the way he needed to, but that had changed, big time, when he had realized that there were women who were naïve and truly believed that no one would dare hurt them.

He laid out all of his tools and put on the music had learned to love to listen to while he was working. He knew that the woman could tell she was about to suffer a lot of pain, but there was nothing she could do about it. He was trying to decide if this time he wanted to go over the top, show just how nasty and evil he really was. He looked at the tools he had laid out and then over at the other tools, the ones he didn't normally use for his other type of work and grinned, maybe it was time to switch up his killing routine, maybe this time he would make them all realize he was more than what they really thought he was.

* * *

JJ laid in bed with Nick later that night, feeling like her world was tearing apart. The suspect that they had all been so sure it was going to be, was really a victim who was a big part of the game this sick sadistic freak was playing. She knew that this had to be someone who had watched JJ struggle through this case, watched and listened to everything that she thought and everything that she felt. This guy would have needed to be close to her at all times and he would have found a way to make sure he was always right there with her, always able to hear what her next step would be and able to make sure she went in the wrong direction instead of the right one.

At the moment LVPD was stuck working this case with the FBI and FHI, her old agency that was making it clear they weren't going to leave this one alone. She was glad to have her old team around her, because they had been working hard on this case for a while. JJ remembered when they had first gotten word that a serial killer was traveling on the loose and that they would be secretly assigned to work the investigation, while most of the local PD's worked their solo cases, without realizing there was one killer and multiple cases all around. FHI always kept to themselves, and this wasn't the first case she worked with her team, she had already worked over twenty cases with the FHI before this case had fallen into their laps. She knew how that team worked, she knew how everyone thought and she knew she could count on them to always have her back in any emergency cases.

JJ was just worried that her close relationship with the FHI people had blinded all of them to what needed to happen. She should have been pulled off this case a long time ago, and FHI had refused to do it and now LVPD was doing the same thing. She realized that they were afraid to pull her off because of this killer, but she was way too close and her point of views on the case were getting them nowhere, as much as she wanted to continue on this case, she wanted to be the one protecting her daughter more. She had no choice but to ask to be pulled off the investigation, she hoped that it wouldn't anger the guy more, and that maybe, just maybe, this decision might actually throw him off his game. He thought she would be to obsessed with him to let this thing go, if she walked away and let others handle the case, he might actually make a mistake. Maybe by her leaving the investigation to others, it might actually make this guy leave them something that could identify him, and that was what they needed more than her on the case. With her decision made, JJ cuddled up close to her husband and fell into a dreamless sleep for the first time since she realized this guy was murdering because of her.

* * *

He positioned the body right where he wanted it, and he grinned. This was going to throw them off their game, this was going to make all of them see that nothing in the world would get to him, that he had no soul and he had no heart. He felt nothing, and he would never ever feel regret or remorse, he enjoyed what he did more than anything. He made the 911 call and made it clear that JJ better be at this scene or else someone close to her would die and soon. He found his new position to relax in and got ready to sit back and watch the show.

* * *

Yawning, JJ and Nick got out of the car and looked at the flashing lights and crime scene tape. JJ had made her decision but hadn't gotten around to actually sitting down and talking with the Captain and Grissom about it. As they walked up to the scene they were shocked, because it was quite clear this one was a lot more gruesome than all of the others. There was no way to identify this victim based on looking at them, and the next of kin wouldn't be allowed to view the body, there was practically no face left on the poor young woman, it almost looked like it had been sanded off or something. JJ almost didn't want to approach the body but Nick put his arm around her waist and slowly guided her towards where the body had been dumped.

"We have found an ID from the last victim here and we found a note telling us the games were over. I don't know what that's supposed to mean but it has everyone on edge and wondering if he has decided to get to his main and final goal. All CSI's and detectives are on alert." Greg said softly.

JJ wasn't a CSI, she didn't collect evidence but she did look at it, as one of the detectives working the case. She knew that the note itself would mean that whoever this guy's main target was, they were the ones who were next to be tormented. She could only hope that the level of pain he had inflicted on this one could mean he made a mistake and left something behind that they could use against him. "Please let him have made a mistake, we have to stop him." JJ whispered to herself.

* * *

He watched closely as the team worked the scene and he knew, he knew without a doubt that things were about to get better, because it was time to stop playing, to stop trying to let them see what this was about and just do what was necessary, it was time to kill the reason behind all of this pain and torture, it was time to take out his one true target and make sure that they suffered greatly. He had practiced on this victim, and now he knew what to do, he had used different methods throughout to find the one that would cause the most pain to the person he wanted to torment, and now he knew what would work best and it was only a matter of finding the right time to grab the right target, and soon this would all be over, at least here.


End file.
